Mass Development
by Otaku4now
Summary: I always told myself, 'Once in my life I'm going to go out and do something meaningful.' What I had meant by this was to climb Mt. Everest, or on a more smaller and safer option of writing a book. What, I had definitely had not meant was to be sucked into a entirely different universe to fight giant squid robots, and save the galaxy. Yeah, I really should've started that book. SI
1. Chapter 1

I always told myself, 'Once in my life I'm going to go out and do something meaningful.' What I had meant by this was to climb Mt. Everest, or on a more smaller and safer option of writing a book.

What, I had definitely had not meant was to be sucked into a entirely different universe to fight giant squid robots, and save the galaxy.

Yeah, I really should've started that book.

Now, I'm getting ahead of myself here. First and foremost, my name is Austin Bell. I came from an ordinary home in the upper east coast of America. Where exactly is no longer important seeing as how I'm most likely quadrillions of light years away from home.

Or is there an infinite amount of time and travel between dimensions? I never really stopped to ask myself the question, probably because I never thought I would really need too.

So you're probably wondering 'What the hell is this guy talking about?' Well, your guess is as good and most likely better than mine for I was asleep when it happened. Flashback!

 _Spam. Spam. Spam. Whats this...? This looks-Nope, Spam._

 _I clicked away the spam in my inbox. For some unknown reason I seem to get an immeasurable amount of it. Oh wait, no, the indicator clearly alerts me to the 300 emails that I currently have. See if I didn't use this email for school and work, then I wouldn't even bother with doing this, but alas life isn't fair…._

 _-301-_

 _The indicator blinked a alarming yellow notifying me of the new email. I sighed expecting the worse, if I received one more stinking message about a new miracle drug I'm going to throw the computer out the window._

 _Upon opening I was surprised to see that this email didn't incorporate the usual tidings of 'Hello Lucky Consumer' or '1000th Person to'._

 _I looked to see who had sended it but the bar which where it was supposed to say such information was blank. Curious I continued to scroll through the message._

 _At first it was as if someone held down the space button for several minutes as I had to repeatedly scroll down a seemingly endless blank email, until at last I ended up at the bottom which had only one sentence in contrast to the amount of scrolling done._

' _Do you want to play a game?'_

 _Needless to say, I was puzzled. 'Saw?' I immediately thought but then quickly pushed that out of my thoughts because that was just a figment of someone's imagination turned into a major motion picture._

 _For some reason I decided to be snarky to the email and responded with 'You know what pal? Sure! I'd love to! Sign me up Compadre! Just can't wait!'._

 _Lesson 1 of Internet Use: Never invoke someone or feel their wrath!_

 _Unfortunately I, who had several years of internet under his belt had forgotten such an important rule._

 _After that I decided to order chinese and go to bed seeing as classes started ripe and early next morning. As I slipped into my sleep coma I glanced at my computer and saw that it was still on and that it was blinking once more. Deciding that sleep was more important I laid my head back down and let myself sleep, oblivious to the challenge I had issued._

 _The computer opened the email itself, it's content relaying two simple but all the more powerful words._

' _Game On'_

 _This was the point black tendrils flooded out of the computer screen and speeded out towards me, which at the time I was snuggled into my pillow till the tendrils latched onto me and pulled me towards the screen._

 _I screamed thinking not about what was happening or how it was happening only that the computer screen was only 18 inches wide (half that vertically) and that I wouldn't be able to fit into it._

 _Honestly, I have to blame sleep for that one, it leaves my senses muddled and groggy, but it seemed that physics had backed off for a second and allowed the impossible and implausible occurrence to occur._

 _I went in feet first and was horrified as I not only felt but saw myself get sucked into the computer screen. Which had to enlarge itself to account for my arms, which currently were on their own path as I had yet to fully awaken and grasp the situation._

 _Before I knew it I had been fully engulfed into the screen traveling through a pitch black tunnel with not end in sight, though soon enough there was an end and not only was it in sight but it was coming into going through distance and fast._

 _Not only the second time I screamed today as my body seemed to race faster and faster into the white light. I tried to scream but no sound had come out and the light was coming closer. I continued to silently scream into I hit the light._

* * *

"-AAHHHHH!" I had screamed until a hand clamped around my mouth silencing my pitiful yelps.

"Quiet! You fool you're going to make them come back!" A light but firm voice whispered to me, obviously the one who clamped the hand around my mouth.

"Cindy! Shut him up! You know what happens when we're too loud!" A gruff voice whispered loud enough for me to hear, which shockingly had an almost pleading sound to it.

"I know! Just give me a second! And you, guy who won't stop screaming! Open your damn eyes before I peel them open!" The voice holding me down commanded.

My eyes flashed open and what I saw horrified me.

There was dozens of people in ragged clothing, who looked scared beyond belief hands on top of their heads silently hoping the blubbering fool that is me would shut up. That wasn't what had terrified me. What it was the immense metal bars which were barely big enough for a weasel to fit through, they surrounded everyone and even separated them to prevent too much crowding, which efforts to were in vain as many people had no choice but to huddle up with one another.

There was 5 people in my cell, which seemed to be one of the more roomier ones, which didn't mean it was any better than the other cells, this cell contained only a bucket, which I really did not want to know what contained but had a faint idea of what had due to the petrified odor coming from within. I eyed the people around him most of them had their heads down or faced away from me except for the one in front of me. Which obviously was the one who had silenced me from before.

I examined her. Her hair was matted down and short which look like it was done by a rusty knife,upon further thought it might have actually been so, in the room there was only one light in the center of the room which seemed to be a mile away so the light I was getting made it hard to see the color of her hair.

Despite this one of her features stood out in the dark, her bright green eyes.

"Okay good, you're awake and you're not screaming. Thats always a good sign." She raised her hands in an effort to reassure me. "I'm not going to hurt you even if i did there's no point anyway, we're stuck here together so in the mean time, calm down…" she reasoned.

If I had not been just manhandled in a hundred ways by my own computer and flown through a dark tunnel I probably would've listen to reason.

Too bad. I screamed again, and the second I did she grabbed me again and did her best to cover the noise. "Great! NOW I have to hurt you" she said.

And hurt me she did, when I finally yielded and stopped yelling I was sore on all parts, this girl sure packed a punch! She laid on top of me, in a effective effort in silencing me.

"I'm going to ask you again, this time not so nicely. Will. You. Shut. Up?" her hand still over my mouth. Silently I nodded, for an extra effort she made me pinky promise which I had found childish and even giggled a bit but received a painful punch in the ribs for it.

"Alright! I'm sorry!" I whispered not looking her in the eyes.

She sighed and shaked her head, "It's okay, as long as you're quiet everything will be fine, I don't think they heard us." She whispered leaning against the bars to see if anyone was entering.

Deciding to get more answers on where I am I went to ask questions. "W-Where am I? And why do I have to be so quiet?" I asked.

She looked at me, and came to a conclusion that I was undeniably hopeless and required any help I can receive. "You're on a ship, you have been for a past few days. We all thought you were dead, you were lying on the floor for a while it was kind of creepy, and why we have to be quiet isn't just to be courteous to those around you, it's because if you're too loud _they_ will come out here and stir up some trouble." She explained in a hush tone, glancing to the side every so often.

'I'm on a ship? How'd I get from my room to a ship? And for days..? Mom and Dad must be pulling their hair out! Or lack thereof...dads kinda bald. One question though in particular I deemed more important.

"Who are _they?_ " I asked her hoping for an answer to my liking. Before she could respond a door hissed open and a voice yelled which contrasted to the whispers that were deemed necessary

"Wakey, Wakey! Alive or Dead time!" A group of individuals armed with what appeared to be weapons which seemed way too advanced for the time and age. From the distance and angle I couldn't see them completely even when I leaned on the bars.

The girl had cursed under her breath and quickly whispered to me as she pointed to the newcomers. "Them! Now be quiet and follow my lead." I nodded and did as she did and slowly stood up.

They started counting people off in numbers.

"One...Two...Three….Forty-One...Forty-Two...Forty-Oh well! Lookie here! Seems like this one, what's the human expression...ah yes! Kicked the bucket. Take him out of here boys." Commanded the counter, instantly the lackeys picked up the man and dragged him outside the room.

Soon enough they reached us. "Fifty-Two Fift-,Well! Seems like you have finally woke up! Bout time, I was about to have them throw you out the airlock today!" He said in a sadistic tone.

I was stunned, my knees buckled. I couldn't believe my eyes...eyes! This man had two pairs of eyes! I now knew who and what these guys were, "B-B-Batarians!" I gasped not only in surprise but also the fact that I had done something I shouldn't have.

The Batarians smile, which was feint at the least, faded and was replaced with surprised anger. "What'd you say, _slave_?" He spat out the word slave as an insult which I guess it was. Due to my incompetence I couldn't form any words as I stared in unbelieving awe.

"I can't hear you, slave!" He was obviously getting annoyed.

The girl from before stepped in front of me and intervened. "What he meant to say, was 'Batarians! How amazing! A powerful and important species that is vastly superior to my own! But he has only just regained consciousness so the words haven't come to him yet" She looked at me and feigned the most honest smile she could to convince the batarian what she was saying was true.

Still at a loss of words I quickly nodded. The Batarian stared me down all eyes unblinking. "Damn right, filthy slaves…". He clearly disinterested in me and continued the count.

"Fifty-Three...Fifty-Four….."

Once finished the Batarian left with little words and only small mentions of food.

I finally began to reflect on what I had just saw. 'A BATARIAN?' I inwardly screamed to myself, never considering the fact that I was actually in the mass eff-no! Don't even say that it's not possible all of this has to be a joke...right?

I've read about things like this! How a man gets trapped in a universe which he knew most and had awesome adventures with his favorite characters. Only thing was I'm 99% sure that most of those sources were from a massively popular fanfiction site and had no credible evidence on the actual truth of them. 'But from what I'm seeing right now...Maybe everything I've read is actually true?'

Maybe people are actually trapped inside parallel universe and have somehow had their stories published onto a website for all to see? The insanity of the thought is laughable, how could any of this be real? 'I'm probably in a coma, or worse dead…' I had crossed out the ideas of a dream, i'd become familiar with my dreams that I knew whether or not they were real.

Yet the question still lingers, why here? Why in the Mass Effect universe? What could any mystical being or twist of fate see in sending a regular ol' Austin to save the day. My mother always said that everything has a purpose, upon further reflection I think that it wasn't my mother who said that but my father, or was it something I heard on tv? Nevermind. The only important thing is that the words still ring true. I should stop panicking and actually start figuring out precisely what's around me before jumping to anymore conclusions.

Snapping out of my midlife crisis I released a sigh, "Thank you..." I said to the girl with the green eyes shifting my gaze and trying to act more calm, as if I fit into the universe.

"Have you ever seen a batarian before? Once you get past their ugly faces you find….even uglier insides. " I laughed, the shock and tension of my situation finally numbing to the point where I could concentrate. "It seems that we're going to be in the presence of one another for a while, so just to get introductions out of the way, My name's Austin Bell."

She smiled at me glad to see that her joke had taken on the intended effect, the batarians had turned on some more lights and left them on allowing me to grasp her features a lot more clearly. Her hair was a filthy but despite the dirt and grime her hair was bright red, and her eyes were even more clear and green then I had first thought, though this, was where my panic had started to settle back in.

"Nice to meet you Austin, you can call me Cindy….Cindy Shepard."

* * *

 _DUN DUN DUN!_

 _WHAT IS THIS? PLOT TWIST? BUT THERE IS NO REAL PLOT SO IT'S JUST A SIMPLE TWIST!?_

 _Haha~ Did you like it? I hoped you all did! It took me a day at least to write this and that was with finals during the week! I really hoped that it was well and you all liked it!_

 _I have high hopes for this story! (Like the 20th time i said hope) But it's a perfectly contextual fitting word so I'll use it as many times as i want!_

 _Review! Favorite! Follow! Review!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Dear Reader,_

 _Alas another chapter in the story returns. Now a warning in advance I do not care how many reviews I get in this story, honestly I'm fine with just 1 review per chapter, if you all will permit me such. I'll be more than happy to just continue writing!_

 _Sorry for the huge delay. I've been busy with school, and haven't been really had time. So now I'm trying to cut the updates short but still maintaining quality. That's really all I have to say on that._

 _So some changes this time around, I'm going to add a textual guide for the different fonts, to not only help you, but myself as well! All will be explained below._

 **Bold: Details of Important places and Stuff**

 _Italic: What Austin is thinking or some serious omnipresent predicting_

 _ **Bold/Italic: SOME SERIOUS BUSINESS IS GOING DOWN**_

 _If there is anything with a **X**_ _th_ _en it's a note that'll be mentioned in the bottom._

 _I added some slight changes to the first chapter. It's more focused towards the part where he first realizes he's in the mass effect universe. I felt that his reaction was really lackluster._

 _One last thing is the POV is debatable which will typically stay in first person for now and possibly forever._

 _Alright, nothing much left to say so I'll just get right into it!_

 _Sincerely, Otaku4now_

 _Disclaimer: What I said during the first chapter still stands! I love my bike!_

* * *

"Sooooo….." I stretched out the word, as the obvious awkwardness of the situation I was in finally settled in on me. I, a random stranger who had no past experiences with these people, come in to their cell, make it even more uncomfortable, and to top it off scream loud enough to give almost everyone a heart attack.

Cindy explained to me where exactly I was after telling her that I had no memory of what had transpired during the time before I had woken up. Which she in turn had a hard time believing, but I'm pretty sure that she had come to her own conclusions on what had happened.

We were on a slaver ship, batarian obviously, and have been for almost a week. What their plans to do with us are we have no idea. Fortunately, little snippets of conversation had reached our ears and allowed us to gain a sense of what exactly was going on even with the little information given to us.

For some reason the guards kept referring to us as products, or merchandise. To them I guess we were, but in the way they stressed the word it's as if the moniker was a buffer to the dozens of lives kept restrained under lock and key.

We all knew something bad was going to happen, but what exactly was the question of the day.

There wasn't much to do, besides sit and listen to the hum of the ship, which in its own sense was the most dominant noise in the room. So to pass the time I decided to get to know my cage members.

As I said before there was 5 people not including myself, they never looked at each other and seldom decided to spark a conservation. I approached the one closest to my left, he was a middle aged man who reeked of sweat and the normal cage smells. In the dark i could barely mark out his facial features except the fact he had short blond hair.

Before I could even say anything he had given me a look that had said ' _If you know whats good for ya you'll stay away'_ following the quiet advice of the man I decided to not talk to him and proceed on to the next person.

This earned a small giggle from Cindy and I had just gave her a glare akin to the one the man gave me except less of staying away and more of the shutting up. Most of the other people were basically the same either giving me the cold shoulder or ignoring me entirely.

It wasn't until I spoke to the 4th person that I had even learned someone's name. Unallowing myself to be cut off I immediately said "Hello! I'm Austin, may I ask what yours is?" At this moment I almost gave up, but for some reason unknown to me I got a legitimate response.

"...Seen'Geel nar Rayya" The voice had sounded as if it was filtered through a speaker which I soon found out in some sense it was, he was quarian.

 _My second encounter with an alien! Thankfully it seems he's a lot nicer than that batarian._ Although he was in very bad shape for one of his kind. His suit was littered with crude but effective bandages that sealed off his connection to the outside world. He obviously won't make it much longer in these conditions. I instantly felt sorry for him.

' _Wait a minute….Nar Rayya? That sounds oddly familiar?'_ I thought. ' _Why does that ring a bell?...Oh my god...He's connected to Tali? They share the same ship name! What a huge coincidence. Maybe, it isn't a coincidence? Fate maybe. Could I go as far as saying destiny?_

Deciding to play it off I replied smoothly, "It's nice to meet you Seen, do you mind if I call you that?" To that I had received a polite shake of the head. "Well as you can tell there's absolutely nothing to do here in this lovely abode of ours, so I decided a great way to pass the time was to get to know one another, so far my efforts have been fruitless save for you! So Seen, if you don't mind can you tell me about yourself?" I asked in the most friendly and kind manner, determined to at least shed a decent amount of time.

He was quiet for a bit shifting a bit more as now everyone in the cage had started to listen in, deciding that they had nothing better to do than listen.

Sighing he reluctantly started, "O-Okay...I-I…" He cleared his throat. "I-I'm from the ship Rayya. which is why my name's Seen nar Rayya, you see that's how our culture works we take the ship we are from and use it as a title nar means 'child of' in my language and…." he trailed off seeing he was starting to bore his cellmates. "You all probably knew that already, oh keelah…." He panicked so I quickly came to the rescue.

"It's okay! I am very interested in what you have to say." I reassured and gave him a smile pleading him to go on.

Nodding he continued, once again clearing his throat. "I was born to Jaes'Geel nar Rayya and Nafa'Geel nar Rayya". **X**

"I-I had lived on my birth ship for 22 years before I began my pligrimage, which in short is a journey of maturity for quarians that every quarian must go through before they are considered an adult, it brought me to Omega, where I had thought foolishly I could strike it big and bring something back worthwhile, I...got involved with a bad group of batarians who I owed a great deal of money too. Soon enough, they kidnapped me and forced me into slavery, I've been floating around different ships for a couple months now dealing with different cast of batarians every time…..that's where my story ends, bad choice of words, where it meets the now." he finished.

My pity for him was growing now, no one should have to endure this. "Thanks, for telling me that. I know you didn't have to tell your life story to a complete stranger but it was kind of you to do so."

He nodded and shuffled back to his corner, returning to his past moping.

I stopped asking people about themselves after that, deciding that a slight nap was in order, before I closed my eyes Cindy poked my shoulder and said "Hey Austin, I don't think it's really fair you asked everyone else about themselves but haven't told anyone about _yourself_."

I paused, what could I tell her about myself, other than I came from the past and know everything about this universe? Of course not. So I decided to do the most instinctive and human thing to do.

Lie a little.

"I was born on earth, decided that I didn't like it there and left my family to never see them again. I was traveling the universe before one of the ships I was on was hijacked by our oh so gracious hosts and then they dragged me here." Deciding that my lie was foolproof I stopped there, the batarians most have gotten me from somewhere but exactly where I can't say.

I instantly felt like she knew it was a lie, but was relieved to see she accepted it but most likely didn't believe it. "I guess...it's only fair to tell you about me now?" she said.

In an not creepy way at all, I had already knew most of everything of Shepard, but seeing as she was a slave and not in the alliance might've changed a lot of things. "Seems appropriate, I'd love to hear what you'd have to say" I told her focusing my attention on her story.

"There isn't much to tell, but I'm going to do my best. I was born and raised on the planet Mindoir, my mother and father were farmers and so were their mother and fathers before them. We had come from a long line of farmers, and my mom and dad wanted their children to succeed their farm and to carry on the legacy of the 'Shepard Farm'. My older sister and I weren't going to have any of that, we wanted to become famous and successful in the world and live the life that we saw people live on our vid screens. We always told each other we'd be the most famous sisters in the universe, everyone would know our names _Cindy and Jane Shepard."_

"That dream didn't last long."

"Batarians came, they spit and crushed any hope of me and my sister having a good life. They killed our parents and kept us captive, and soon separated us from each other. The last thing I heard my sister say was 'I'll find you'. It's all a blur after that, the ship took off and I was kept as a slave drifting from master to master. And now I'm here, still drifting…." She stopped her story, it was over.

I couldn't help but ask, "How long has it been since then?" she stopped thinking "I haven't gotten a real good grasp on time, but since I've been counting the days since then...11 years." She whispered, she realized just exactly how much time had gone by and was flabbergasted by the sheer number of it. I was too.

 _How does someone survive living like this for 11 years? She is definitely Shepard's sister._ Shepard's sister...I never considered or even thought that too be possible, but I guess it is if the proof is right in front of me. I can't be in here, not with Shepard's sister, not with everything I know. If you take into account that what happened on Mindoir occurred in 2170 and Mass effect starts in 2183, then the timeline should be 2181, 2 years before Mass effect starts, I have two years to get ready.

I look into Cindy's eyes with a burning hope.

"Whaddya think of breaking out of here?" I asked.

She looked at me with a parallel expression of hope and a crook of a smirk.

"I'd think, that I'm starting to like you Austin." she said.

* * *

 **X** I don't know if female Quarians take the name of their spouse like human's do so I decided to put it as so anyway. If I'm wrong please tell me!

 **Not reviewing is like walking into somebody's store, looking at their merchandise and then walking out. Review, Favorite, Follow!**


	3. Chapter 3

_Dear Reader,_

 _If everything goes according to plan, then this chapter should be posted a day after the last chapter. If not, well then I'm too lazy to edit this part out of the letter._

 _I decided that I should create another chapter right after to say sorry for being gone for so long._

 _Don't read the first two sentences...ah blast it you probably did already! I started writing this the day after the first chapter. Thought I could bang out a short third chappie for you all but then school came out of nowhere like 'Haha no.' So I'm really sorry, I don't know if the posting days are going to all be like this but for now they are going to be frequent!_

 _Also, I don't think I touched upon me coming into this late. Making a Mass Effect SI, but I never played Mass Effect before but I still read the fanfictions of other self inserts and fell in love with them. So I decided that I'll quickly go through Mass effect 1, 2, and 3 before Andromeda comes out. Hopefully, this will last that long!_

 _Other than that nothing else to report._

 _Sincerely, Otaku4now_

 _Disclaimer: **Bike. Is. Mine. Mass. Effect. Is. Not. Mine.**_

* * *

The rest of the day, or what we felt like was a day, was spent creating a plan to escape the ship. We knew that the guards checked on us twice everyday. Once in the morning for roll call and then once in the afternoon for our food, we had decided if we were going to ever make it out of the ship we'd have to do it in between those times.

The only thing was our plan was along the lines of, 'Bash in the heads of the batarians, steal the keys, and take over the ship'. How exactly we were going to accomplish this was still in the works, but luckily for us we had a very crafty quarian on our side.

"Taking into account that you can hear the ship's FTL core from inside here in the heavily contained and secure area of the ship means two things: one, it's a very large vessel because the bigger a ship is the larger FTL core is required to properly run and prevent cherenkov radiation if I was to guess...I'd say we were on a cruiser and since cruisers are usually used to transport a large amount of soldiers I think that there would be a large amount of escape pods." Seen had explained his timidness vanished as he heard that we were planning an escape, it seems he wants to get out as much as we do.

"The second thing, is that the ship isn't up to date. What I mean by that is of how loud the noises of this ship are, it's almost as loud as some of the older ships in the migrant fleet. Maybe that's why I sleep so well here? Since it reminds me of home, well if home was being held hostage with a bunch of strangers…..I want to help, I think I can navigate us to the escape pods if I can get into the ship's VI. I just need to get into a console and hack my way into the mainframe." Seen explained.

It finally clicked to me, the ultimate plan that would get us off the ship and out into freedom.

"Gather round, I've got a plan".

* * *

The plan was simple, wait until next roll call I would pretend I kicked the bucket, the two guards carry me out, when their back is turned I would knock them both out take their weapons and hightail it back to the cells, then threaten the jailer with the gun release the rest of the slaves, protect Seen while we find a console for him to hack into, find the escape pods and escape this damn slave ship.

"That is by far, the riskiest plan I've ever heard of." The man who had given me the harsh gaze had said, who now was identified as Daryl and after hearing about our escape plan was very eager to conversate. "Got any better ideas?" Cindy defending my plan made me feel like it would work but I almost agreed with Daryl, the plan was risky it depended on luck, and had a very low success rating but then again that was what most of the Shepard's missions were.

 _Might as well get ready for the disasters that follow Shepard's crew._

"I say we take them over by sheer numbers, knockout the guards and overwhelm the crew!" Daryl suggested, we definitely have numbers but the casualties would be too high. "No, not an option. The casualties would be too high." Cindy shot down the idea as soon as he said it and gave him a glare that would scare a krogan when he tried to argue.

 _Way to say what I was thinking Cindy._

"Bugger it! Fine! We'll go with what the damn boy says!" Daryl conceded and walked back to his corner, silently listening to the rest of our planning. I almost felt sorry for him, serves him right for turning down my friendly conversation!

"Anyone else disagree?" I asked around, the rest of the slaves had already agreed to the plan and no one spoke out in disagreement. "Alright, get yourselves ready, we have a big task ahead of ourselves." I leaned back on the prison bars, this wasn't going to be easy but maybe deep down, I hoped it would be fun.

 _That is just messed up_. I'm not really a fan of realistic violence, just the fictional kind. I didn't think I would actually want something so dangerous to occur, I guess years of playing video games had made me not want to just play the games but actually live in the games? Is that why I'm here? To get away from my old life, to finally live the fantasies I had always dreamed off?

I didn't think much of it as I slowly let myself fall asleep, the anticipation of the next day stalled my sleep with negative thoughts of how everything could go wrong, but were soon drowned out as I slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

 _Austin…Wake up Austin…AUSTIN!_

Smack.

I awoke to a very painful sting on my face and Cindy looking as innocent as ever. Rubbing my cheek, I decided right then and there that I would never want to be on the receiving side of a Shepard smack ever again.

"They're due any minute." She told me, shaking her head when she saw I was still in pain. "Stop being such a wuss, if anything goes wrong then a pained cheek is the least of your problems." She scolded.

"How do you know that they're on their way?" I asked her as I stood up, seeing that everyone else was awake and aware. I blushed slightly, I was the one who made the plan but the last to be ready.

"After 11 years, you start to learn the habits of your captors, and about 10 minutes before roll call the lights in front of the door turn on then off. It's some sort of wake up call." She pointed at said light and it was indeed on and just like clockwork it quickly flickered off.

"Good….Cindy, listen. If this all goes wrong I just wanted to tell you…" I started. "I'm flattered, but I don't know you that well yet Austin." I couldn't tell if she was joking or actually turning me down before I even said anything.

"No, that's not what I was going to tell you. What I'm trying to say is….that your sister is sti-" I tried to finish the sentence but the doors quickly slid open and I fell to the ground. Shepard's face had looked shocked as she pieced together some of what I was going to say, it looked like she wanted me to finish the sentence but before she could say anything I mouthed the words _later._

She looked reluctant at first but then conceded as she realized the plan had to come first. Though she quickly mouthed back the words _You better explain._ I nodded and closed my eyes as the batarians made their way through the cells.

"Guess who's back?!" The batarian from before had said, he walked with almost a glee in his step as he was followed by two of his armed allies. "You know the drill everyone alive stand up, everyone dead...keep being dead".

He started the count "One...Two...Three...Fifty-one…" He paused when he saw my limp form. My eyes were shut but if they were open I was sure I would have been able to see the anger cross against his features. How? Well he went on to saying "Goddammit! Another one? That's two in a row, boss is going to kick my ass out of the airlock!" It was silent a moment as the batarian started thinking, he soon came up with a solution.

"Keep this one off the books, it's just one slave...go hide the body in the garbage disposal it'll be like he never existed." He barked the command, and the two armed guards looked at one another and shrugged. "If the boss finds out it's not on our heads." They said as they unlocked the cage with a glowing orange keycard, one aiming at the slaves the other gun drawn pulling me out of the cage.

 _Where is the garbage disposal? It doesn't really put a dent in the plans if I still can knock them both out. Their armor might make it harder to do so, so I have to specifically rock them hard to knock them out._

I quickly gave one glance to CIndy and also Seen, If you could muster up a reassuring stare be sure that was what I had given them.

They carried me out of the door, and then started to drag me across the floor. The other batarian shaked his head as he closed the cage and continued on the count.

They seemed to have no respect for the dead as they didn't care if my body was bumped against a wall or dragged on the dirty ground. There was no talking as they walked, I kind of hoped they did to take my mind of the road rash I was certain to have at the end of the day.

They stopped to open a door and quickly pulled me in, I almost vomited from the grotesque smell that radiated from the room. The batarians didn't seem to mind as they brought me deeper into the room the smell becoming more and more present the further we went.

One of the batarians let go of me and activated a console with his omnitool. He was having trouble with it, apparent from his annoyed expressions. I knew this was my chance, but how exactly I was going to execute it was beyond me.

I mumbled something incoherent, just enough for the guard to wonder where the noise had come from but not alert his buddy. He did exactly that as I mumbled once again, he zeroed in on the noise and realized that it was coming from me, but it was too late. I had brought my fist back and launched it up into an almost perfect uppercut I was tempted to say _Shoryuken!_ but quickly decided against it.

It looked as if he was unconscious or stunned, I didn't wait to find out as I took his gun, which was lighter than it looked, and quickly pinned the other batarian against the wall, bringing his arm behind his back and the blaster to his temple. He immediately frozed unmoving at the realization that the dead slave wasn't really dead.

"You're supposed to be dead! Damn! And you knocked out Pranis! Fucking human!" He cursed and struggled in my grasp before I pressed the blaster harder onto his head and quickly disarmed him from his weapon. "Shut up, you're going to tell me exactly how to head back to the cells or else…." I had trailed off looking for an appropriate threat for this time line.

In this distraction the batarian decided he should reach for his pistol, so in turn I jabbed the pistol into his skull and said "Whatever you're reaching for, it better be a sandwich, cause you're gonna have to eat it."

The threat worked and he stopped reaching for the gun, "Talk, NOW." I emphasized the point by once again jabbing him with the gun. "Shit, Alright! Follow the hallway and keep going right, it'll bring you to a staircase where you can go down and FUCK YOURSELF!" He yelled, knocking me in the face with the back of his head causing me to drop the gun. I staggered gripping my nose to check for blood and being relieved when I felt none.

He charged me with a feral growl, intending to bring me down and lay down heavy blows. I jumped to the side, but then realized too late I wasn't his goal the blaster was. I didn't have much time and running out of options I used the only thing I had on me to stop him from ending my life.

I threw my shoe at his face.

The result was two times the expected effect as it not only stunned him, thank god for steel toes, but also made him cry out in disgust. "It smells like varren shit!" I grinned as I launched myself at him, and when I was close enough proximity I lined myself up for a back kick and executed the attack perfectly. Knocking him in the jaw was enough to crumple him to the ground, causing the gun to fall useless on the ground.

Quickly arming myself with the rifle I pointed it at the batarian to find that he was out for the count. I sighed, I'm not sure if what he had said was even accurate at all. I searched him, he had what looked like to be a bracelet on his arm and after unlatching it from his arm I realized it was an omni-tool.

 _Sweet!_ Although I had no idea how to use it, I knew that Seen would and decided to make double time before the Jailer had left the cells. I pocketed the omni-tool in the only pocket in my pants.

Suddenly I felt arms go around my neck and I immediately started to panick and wondered where this mystery attacker had come from. I soon realized that it was the previously knocked out batarian that had awoken from his slumber. He had me in a chokehold and in a few seconds I would be out.

There was nothing I could do, he was experienced and knew exactly how to take someone out of commission. _Damn….I can't die here…_ I thought as my vision started to fade. My air was cut off, my thoughts started to get cloudy. I thought this was the end.

As if out of nowhere the arms were flung off of me and I felt myself being propelled into a wall, loud noises that were akin to explosions rocked the walls of the ship. I coughed roughly and sucked in air, breath flooded into my lungs as I greedily took each and every sip of the air.

I stayed in the position I was in for a few more moments. Regaining my breath and composure, when I stood up I saw that the batarian that attacked me had been incapacitated from the blow of hitting the wall. The ship rocked again and I used the wall for support, judging from the rocking I guess we could say that the ship was under attack.

 _Thank god. The only thing is, are they friendly or worse than the batarians?_

I knew I didn't have a lot of time before something even worse was going to happen so I got going. I grabbed the two guns, put one across my shoulder and the other in a position ready to fire at the first moving body. Leaving the room and thanking whatever prophet for the luck they bestowed upon me I started off to the cells.

I had tried to memorize the path they hadn't taken too many turns but unfortunately they took enough to confuse me on whether or not I had to go a separate direction or not. I followed my gut, which was mostly never wrong, and went right.

Luckily, there was no more turns and I soon stumbled upon the door to the cells. It wasn't pretty, it seemed that this part of the ship was hit harder than the section I was in. Wires hung from the ceiling, support beams had fallen to the ground and almost crushed the cells but all in all everyone was still alive.

I ran to the cage where Cindy was, hoping that it stayed away from the most of the damage. It did and everyone was safe. "Cindy! Seen?! Are you both okay?" I yelled seeing their prone bodies on the ground. Cindy instantly popped up she looked surprised and searched the cage. "What happened?...Austin? Hey! You survived!" I deadpanned at what she said, that didn't sound a lot like confidence in me or my plan.

"Nice to see you too. I think the ship is being attacked, we got to get out of here. Is everyone else okay?" I asked looking through the cell. "I don't know, let me check." She said as she slowly got up and went to shake everyone awake.

She said that Seen, and the 2 others in the cell were fine and were only dazed, and then there was Daryl the only one who disagreed with my plan. It looked like when the ship was struck he crashed head first into the iron bars fracturing his skull. He had no pulse he was dead.

Despite myself I cursed out. "Shit! He wasn't supposed to die! Damn it!" I kicked a cell expressing my anger in the only way I knew how. There was someone's death on my hands, and it was a horrible feeling. "If I came sooner...maybe I could've gotten him to a medi-gel station…" I said.

Daryl had seemed like a hard ass but he agreed to my plan even when he thought it wasn't a good idea. Good men shouldn't have to die...especially not like this.

Instead of allow me to be in self-loathing Cindy interrupted my thoughts. "HEY! Now is not the time to be feeling bad for yourself! Daryl hit the bars and most likely died on impact, there was nothing you could've done that would've helped him! And I'm sorry to say it but we have more important things to worry about. Remember the plan Austin! Remember the plan!" Cindy yelled.

I felt a rush of….of something that inspired and rejuvenated me. Maybe it was because she had a way with words, or that it had something to do with her being the blood of probably one of the best leaders in human history. Whatever it was it stilled worked and I soon snapped out of the stupor I was in.

 _Remember the plan!_

"You're right. Okay...Okay! Is Mr. Counter still here?" I asked referring to the batarian who called roll call. Cindy nodded and pointed to a beam "It fell on him, and he's been stuck there screaming until he passed out. Hurry!" She told me as she helped Seen get to his feet.

I ran to the beam she pointed at, and spotted the corpse. It was pinned under the beam and only his torso was visible. The key card was in his hand next to the clipboard that he used to count us all. I almost smirked when I saw that the only thing the clipboard had on it was scribbles and drawings.

I grabbed the key card and checked to see if he had an omni-tool or anything else useful. To my dismay it was crushed probably from him falling and landing directly on it. As I placed his arm down the other one sprang up and grabbed the collar of my shirt.

"Damn...Humans...mucking everything up for everyone else...should be...ashamed of yourselves…" The batarian groaned in pain. I didn't feel remorseful for him as I did Daryl. Instead I felt angry and just pissed at the scum.

"...I'm sick and tired of you damn batarians jumping out of nowhere and scaring the shit out of me!" I calmly said as I brought my fist back and launched it square in the batarians face, making him spit out red batarian blood.

"Fwuck uo!" He gurgled as I stood up, with key card in hand and left him alone. Running back to Cindy I unlocked the Cage, and quickly gave her the assault rifle. She looked at it and with what seemed like years of experience turned off the safety, checked the coolants, and primed it for fire. I stared at her "I use to use these all the time at the farm, I guess you never forget." She grinned and snatched the key card from me. "I'll start unlocking the rest of the people." She said and I nodded, I turned to Seen seeing that he was standing up and ready to help.

"Glad to see you're still up buddy here, can you do anything with this?" I handed him the omni-tool I got from the batarian guards. "Just have to bypass the firewalls and…I'm in. I now have a full map and some control of the ship's systems. Thanks." he said.

"Alright, lead the way." I told him helping the other two of our cell mates and closing the open eyes of Daryl. _Your sacrifice will not be in vain._

I left the cage and ran over to Cindy who had already opened most of the cages, she was arguing with the people in the cells. "What's wrong?" I asked "Is the key card not working?".

"No...it's not that the key card worked fine it's just…they don't want to be let out." Cindy told me not giving up on trying to make them leave the cage, despite the protests of the inhabitants of the cell. "Let me talk to them." I said gently moving her out of the way and trying to reason with the prisoners.

"Hey, we can all leave. Seen has a map of the ship and Cindy and I both have weapons. We'll bring you all to safety." I explained to them reassuring them to the safety of the plan. Surprisingly only one answered, and he said "We do not want to leave, we have nowhere to go. Our families are dead, our children slaughtered, and our lives ruined. There is nothing outside for us anymore." She argued.

It was an middle aged woman in rags, she seemed to speak for the whole group. "So create new ones! Have new families! New lives! Nothing can replace those that have been lost, but you think dying here and ending your legacies will be what they wanted? Your families wanted?" I crammed some sense into their brains and hoped it would stick.

There was silence in the cage for a moment before the woman spoke again. "We have decided...leave us." She demanded and I sighed there was no reaching them. They were all hopeless and time was running out. We couldn't stay and convince them if it meant killing ourselves in the process.

"I'll mark a path for you, if any of you change your mind the hallways should be clear and the path safe. I'll wait as long as I can at the escape pods." I decided that was the best I could do and led the rest of the people out.

"Seen, lead the way."

"Roger that" He responded.

* * *

The hallways we went down had been clear. Any turns we had taken I ripped off a piece of my shirt and stuck it in an obvious fashion so they could follow. I was running out of enough shirt to look decent but I said I would so I continued it at any turn. I was getting incredulous looks from Cindy but I didn't notice.

"Keelah...This day doesn't get any better." Seen had stopped, and we all with him. "What's wrong?" I asked but he quickly shushed me and pointed to his omni-tool. A small map, that showed tiny green blips that I guess was all of us, was shown and beside those tiny blips if not meters away was 3 red blips.

In front of us was a shut door that most likely held the three red blips that I had seen on Seen's omni-tool. "Tell me you have some specialties on that omni-tool?" I whispered certain that Cindy and I can take down the two easy but that left the third and if we reacted to slowly or he reacted to quickly someone can get hurt.

"Let me check...aha! I have a simple incinerate. That should be sufficient enough to take down one enemy." he said getting ready to activate it. That took care of that problem the only thing left was how we would go ahead and annihilate these bastards.

Would I even be mentally prepared to take another life? No, not to someone who didn't deserve it but these bastards do deserve it tenfold. "Are you ready?" Cindy asked she seemed to have no problem undergoing the attack. I nodded and made sure the safety was off it was show time.

Cindy was in front since she seemed to have a better idea of how to actually lead and Seen and I were following close behind. I thought of how the guns were used in mass effect, _controlled bursts Austin...keep the gun level and the firing short._ I reminded myself repeatedly.

"On three…" Cindy began gesturing with her fingers.

 _One._

"One."

 _Two._

"Two"

 _Three_

"Three!"

Seen unlocked the door, inside three batarians were trying to get a fix on what was attacking them they were so busy they didn't see who was attacking them now. Us.

I let loose a controlled burst the first shots hit exactly where I aimed and pinned the batarian straight in the heart. The rest of the shots went wide and hit the limbs of the batarian who had died when the first shot had been fired.

Cindy had me very much impressed as she let off one clean and precise shot that went clean through her targets skull. His head shot back and he was dead in an instant.

Seen's, while the most gruesome, was ultimately the coolest. He thrusted forward the incinerate which lunged at batarian like a cheetah to a gazelle. It landed with a thud and set him on fire, causing him to scream and cry until he died.

It was over, and the adrenaline pumping in my veins had slowly started to diminish. I didn't feel any different than I did running through the hallways. The death of the batarians had no lasting effects on me. Which I don't know whether to be grateful for or terrified.

I decided not to linger on the thoughts and continue on with the plan. I gestured for Seen to keep leading us, and had the other slaves arm themselves with the weapons of the batarians.

Seen deactivated his incinerate and pulled his map back up. "The route looks clear, we'll be there soon" He said. Once everyone was ready we started into the hallways once again.

* * *

The running was short and (thankfully) uneventful save for the lurching of the ship from unknown fire. I kept up ripping my shirt and soon didn't have much shirt left, and was grateful and surprised when Cindy offered a fabric from her shirt when mine was running low. "Thanks." I said keeping pace with her.

She looked at me "Don't worry about it. I still don't think that it's doing much good, except maybe making it funny to see you in a raggedy training bra." She joked, and I had to hand it to her the shirt was ripped to where my stomach was exposed for the world to see.

I smiled, at least the atmosphere hadn't changed much.

Seen stopped running because his omni-tool flashed and pinged an alert. _You are here_.

He looked at me and Cindy, and in a sort of weird quarian way smiled at me. I say weird cause you can't exactly tell whether or not they are smiling. "The way is clear! Come! Hurry!" Seen unlocked the door and escorted everyone inside, Cindy and I helped him.

There was plenty of escape pods, which made me wonder why none of them had been taken. If the ship was under attack then why hadn't anyone left yet? I didn't think much of it, as I entered the room with Seen and Cindy.

Eight people could fit into the pod, and fit into it they did. The pods were filled up as the hundred give or take slaves filled the pods in seconds. There was plenty left, but Cindy, Seen and I all shared the same one.

The last part of the plan, was the destination. Now that we were in the escape pods all that mattered was where we were going to go next. We couldn't come to a decision, Seen wanted to go to the Citadel, cause he never wanted to be in an unknown colony ever again, and Cindy wanted to visit Mindoir to see if her family way alive or not.

Since elder Shepard obviously had the colonist background then her parents must be dead. I didn't want Cindy to experience something as traumatic as that. I also couldn't outright tell her that her parents were dead, or that her sister was still alive if she knew she might alter the canon in a way so drastic that it might mean doom for us all.

So I decided that their was only one place we could go to get away from the country life and away from any news about Shepard.

 _ **Omega.**_

* * *

 _P.S. I'm not super sure if 'Omega' is the best place for them to go, so if anyone else has any better suggestions I'd love to hear them._


	4. Chapter 4

_Dear Reader,_

 _How've you been? Been a while since we last spoke, or rather since you last read my story. I don't think I apologized enough in the message that I left yesterday. So let me start off the new chapter on an apology._

 _I'm sorry._

 _Will you find it in your sweet and big heart to forgive me? If so than I'm forever in your debt and to repay it I'll continue trying my best to post quality chapters for your enjoyment. If not….then I'll still try to do so until the immense awesome that radiates from my story rubs off on you! ^^_

 _Anyways honestly I'm real sorry, and I hope you guys aren't that mad at me. This story started off just being a story for me but then I realized the potential behind it and how I would be wasting the idea if I left it to die. So here I am a year later (couple months if you want to be technical) trying to restart the heart of the story. I'll stop wasting your time with my pleading and begging for your forgiveness because I know that it can only get you so far. So without further ado~~~~_

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

"Omega is definitely the _last_ place I would ever want to go! The time we enter the port we would be shot and robbed faster than we could blink!" Shepard argued stomping on my killer idea.

"Me either. It's dirty, and not to mention dangerous." Seen remarked as he looked for any punctures in his suit. "Plus I need supplies to fix my suit. If we went to Omega I'm sure to catch something." He added. This was how fast my plan was shot down, immediately after I had even uttered the word Omega. My pride was a bit deflated but I wouldn't let that bring me down just yet

For the most part it seems we escape the pirates, but as we left the ship we searched for what had attacked the ship. We saw exactly nothing, the only evidence there was of the ship being attacked was that it was on fire. Seen had tried to get ahold of anyone via comms but his endeavors weren't fruitful and he only received static so we ended up being alone in space as we drifted ever slowly away our enslavers ship.

I tried to convince them once more but it seemed that they had no intention of changing their minds. I relented, "Fine. If we aren't going to Omega where then?" I asked, the galaxy was limitless but I only had a handful of planets that I knew from heart, and even so what would we have done at omega? Become badass mercenaries that stopped evil? So cliche. Suffice to say that our first idea was thrown out the airlock as soon as it was conceived.

Seen had somehow deemed his suit somewhat safe because he walked up to the console of the escape pod, and after a few seconds of Cindy and I disagreeing about our destination, he said "We shouldn't focus on where we want to go. But where we _can_ go. Look." Seen said going through the pod's information and moving aside to show the screen.

"What do you mean by that?" Cindy inquired, standing up and walking closer to view the screen. I followed suit and we both saw the exact location where we were. Actually where we weren't, other than the ship there was nothing in range for what seemed like forever.

"Well first of all right now, judging from the map and the information, we're in the Typhon system." He explained. The system wasn't very familiar, but I felt like it should have been. I motioned for him to continue. "Our pod can't make a trip to any of the places we want to go. We don't have enough fuel, and obviously an escape pod doesn't have the necessary...anything to go through a mass relay. Which I'm sure is the case for many of the other escapees too. What I can say for sure is that any thoughts of visiting the Citadel or Mindoir aren't going to happen, at least for now." Seen informed us as he tweaked with the controls once more. "Lucky for us though…" he said tapping various buttons on the console "We can make it to one planet, with the fuel available to us." the screen switched to a visage of a planet with faint rings going around it, it's name was bolded out as **Aite**."Maybe we can land there and hitch a ride with some friendly strangers?" he suggested.

I paused, the planet's name was ringing only a few bells. I started to remember that it's a planet similar to earth in climate and habitability for life, but that is where the similarities ended. It has no government, and it's basically in anarchy. Citizens had to protect themselves from groups who would strong arm them into paying collection money or worse.. That wasn't even the worst part, the worst part was that in only two centuries the moon would collide with the planet causing an extinction event like that of the dinosaurs to occur on the planet. I prayed that if anything did, this planet would stick to canon and not have an early destruction. "Anything you can tell us about this planet?" I asked trying to keep the facade of me being the clueless guy.

He shook his head, it seems he has no idea. I turned to Cindy wanting to know what she thought about the Idea. She saw my gaze and turned around thinking, there wasn't any alternative so the choice was already decided before she had time to give her input. "We have no other option. Let's just go." She said sitting back on the seat and fastening herself to the chair.

I could tell she wasn't exactly happy about this decision, I wouldn't either if I was her. I sat directly in front of her to convince her it would be all right. "Cindy, I promise you the first chance we get, we will board the first ship to Mindoir and find out what happened to your family." I said this to pacify her, and in an effort to sell it home, gave her a reassuring smile. Although I wasn't sure I could go through with it, for whatever happened when we landed was up to chance.

She looked me in my eyes, and what I had guessed, tried to find truth in my promise. She apparently decided I hadn't let her down yet and smiled at me and then said "Thanks Austin. That means a lot.". I put my hand on her shoulder in a friendly gesture. Taking my hand away from her shoulder I fastened my seatbelt and alerted Seen that I was buckled in. He nodded and, since he had already buckled himself into the pilot seat, set the pod onto a course towards Aite.

The landing wasn't as smooth as he hoped it would be. Actually the landing was in no terms smooth at all. It took a bit longer than estimated and fuel tank was almost depleted, we guessed there was just enough for slowing down the pod when we entered the stratosphere. We had gotten just close enough for the planet's gravitational pull to grab the escape pod and pull it towards the surface. The pod had safety measures and a few nifty tricks. It was shaped like a big metal wing, and regulated itself so it wouldn't go too deep into the atmosphere at once.

When we finally entered the stratosphere the screen on the console started beeping, which said 'Initiating Slow-Down procedures'. I blew out a sigh of relief, it seems we were safe for now. I laid my head back, we were moving slowly and in a rocking motion the rockets on each side shutting on and off to stabilize the pod. I felt tired and almost wanted to fall asleep but I knew that that wasn't an option, at least not yet. That didn't stop Shepard though, who was currently asleep like a sloth.

Suddenly the pod's interior lights changed from the normal yellow light into a more alarming and warning red. A siren went off on the console, Seen gasped. "Shit! We're out of fuel!" He struggled with the controls switching the pods autopilot to off and manually controlling the shuttle. From what I saw I knew that Seen was at least a decent pilot but that couldn't stop me from feeling a sense of dread.

Shepard had slowly woken up from the sounds erupting from the pod. "W-What's happening, guys?" she asked rubbing her eyes, unaware of the dire situation.

"Um...Seen said there's no fuel, but I'm plenty sure he can land us safely. Right Seen?" I asked trying to get a hold of the situation.

"No. We are definitely going to crash. The best I can do is make sure we don't crash face first." He said reassuringly.

"Oh well if that's the case then I'm going back to sleep….." She then choked "WAIT WHAT?! What the hell? Why didn't you wake me up earlier?!" She growled and then I received a punch in the arm from the redhead.

"Ow! Don't get angry with me! This is startling new information!" I responded.

"It's your fault we even considered this planet, so of course I'm going to get pissed off you!"

"It was an unanimous decision! You and Seen thought it was a great idea!"

"What other choice was there?! At least if we stayed in the middle of nowhere we could've gotten discovered by some ship!" Cindy argued. Just as I was about to explain why that would've been a horrible idea given our recent escape of a ship, Seen interrupted.

"Uh...guys?" He said.

"WHAT" We both yelled out at him.

"Brace for impact."

* * *

And with that it all went black.

I groaned, my head felt like a krogan was battering it repeatedly with a biotic charge….Is that okay now? Have I been here long enough to start using the analogies of this universe? I probably should to avoid suspicion. I tried opening my eyes and realized they were already open, it was just incredibly dark in the pod. I activated my omni-tool and fiddled around for a flashlight, which I am not ashamed to say took me a few more seconds than I would have liked, to find. I also checked to see if I had any mobile future aspirin, I didn't find any though.

I aimed the omni-tool around the pod, next to me unconscious was Cindy. Her face was aimed towards the ground, but I could tell that she was okay for the most part. I aimed it at Seen, and gasped. There was a large rupture in his suit, and he was bleeding. It looks like he must've hurt himself on impact. I cursed ignoring my own pain and undoing my safety straps. I practically pounced on Seen as I gently stirred him awake.

Moaning his white eyes flickered open and closed. "A...Are you and Cindy okay?" he asked, letting out a few short coughs.

"Thanks for asking, but me and her are fine. What I'm worried about right now is you." I gestured to the large opening in his suit.

"Oh….That isn't...very good." he muttered as his eyes closed and he fell under.

"Shit!" I was running out of time, he would soon succumb to the wound. I had to close it, but I didn't have anything remotely close to sealing it. I remembered seeing a first-aid-kit near the entrance of the escape pod I ran to it and ripped it off the wall. I emptied the contents on the floor positioning my omni-tool to where I could see the items.

The contents were borderline basic with almost nothing that would help Seen, but I found a saving grace in the form of Medi-gel. I was clueless on how to use it but knew that since it was a gel it had to be applied. I fumbled around and inserted the Medi-gel into my omni-tool which was fairly easier than trying to turn on the flashlight.

I read the tutorial on how to dispense Medi-gel only briefly, I didn't have enough time to get into details. The gist of it was I activated the Medi-gel and hover it over the wounded area and the Omni-tool would do the rest. Doing just that the Medi-gel sealed the wound and begun the process of healing. Just to make sure he was fine I wrapped a few bandages I found in the first-aid-kit around his leg.

Hoping Cindy wasn't in as dire of a shape as Seen, I checked her condition. save for a few cuts and maybe a medium-sized bruise on her arm she was going to be ripe as rain. That's from my limited medical standpoint I hadn't gotten that far in my medical school before I was picked off my universe and placed here.

The next course of action was to leave the pod. I didn't want to go into danger without any backup so I tried waking Cindy up again. When I did however she yelled and punched me in my face claiming I 'scared her'.

"Don't try sneaking up on a girl like that Austin, doesn't end too well." She reminded me, unbuckling herself from her seat.

Rubbing my chin I said "Yeah, I'll keep that in mind….Seen is hurt, but don't worry I patched him up as best I could. We need to get out of here though, so I need you to cover me while I go check out what's happening outside." Cindy nodded and armed herself with her generic looking rifle. I crawled over to the emergency hatch and readied myself. I looked back at Cindy and she encouraged me on.

I pressed the button.

The escape pod depressurized and the hatch of the door opened. I was spot on, it looked almost exactly like earth. I could see trees and bushes and birds, it was almost as if I was home outside in my backyard, but I knew I wasn't. I was in a different universe, on a different planet that was infested by gang wars and violence.

Not wanting to be caught unawares I raised my rifle as I stepped out. My feet hit the bare grass, it was a bit chilly but nothing compared to the harsh winters I faced at home. The area was for the most part trees and grass. Deciding it was clear for the moment I yelled back into the pod "The coast is clear!" I waited for Shepard's response.

It was silent in the pod for a moment and then followed a rustling sound that was Cindy urging me to come back in the pod. I followed her back in and saw that Seen wasn't getting any better. It seemed that the medi-gel only gave him more time and didn't fully heal him. In order for him to be fully functional we would need a place that could provide sterile conditions and was quarian friendly.

That would be harder said than done. I sighed "Things are just going to get harder from this point on…Cindy, are you ready for this?" I asked her. I wasn't underestimating her in the slightest. I knew what a Shepard was capable of if given the opportunity, it was just that this was uncharted territory for the three of us and one of us was in very rough shape.

"You shouldn't ask me if I'm ready for this, I've been ready for almost 10 years. You should ask yourself if you're ready for this." She said turning the question back onto me.

Was I ready for this? Breaking out of a pirate ship while it was being attacked was one thing, but to make our way through a battle-torn planet without any outside help was another. There wasn't going any back though. Literally our only way back was lost when we fell from the stratosphere. I looked at her and nodded, from this moment forward I vowed to bring her back to her sister and create the most amazing, badass, and dangerous sister duo in the galaxy, no the universe!

"So what's our next plan of action? I mean obviously it's to find medical supplies for Seen, or better yet to find someone to mend his suit." She said as we both worked together to put Seen in a more comfortable position.

"That's easier said than done. That would require one of us to leave to find supplies and the other to watch and protect Seen…I'll go and look you should stay here with Seen." I told her. She seemed to be okay with that for the moment so I equipped my rifle and left the pod.

Before I could actually leave the pod Cindy warned me "Hey Austin…We don't know what's out there so…be careful."

"I will…I'll be back in no time." I assured her as I left the downed pod and went in a search for help.

I didn't get far before shit hit the fan.

Like I said the planet was in constant battle against each other so about almost a mile away from the pod I found myself at the edge of a turf war. I seemed to have found somewhat of a settlement with steel walls and guard towers. It almost looked like a castle in some weird and futuristic way.

A huge group of people were firing off blasts from their weapons without any precision or skill at the castle. It seemed to me that they were just shooting blindly in hopes of hitting someone, or something. I hid behind a rock and used it for cover because somehow the shots were heading in my direction.

I could make out that there was two factions. Both majorly human with the exceptions of maybe a few batarians. From the very beginning I knew it wasn't a fair fight. The defenses the castle had were more than a match for the offense of the unskilled raiders. It would be over soon and maybe than I could ask for some supplies for Seen.

I almost choked when I saw a huge krogan (mind you it was my first time seeing a krogan in person so it may have been an average sized krogan) holding an almost as big shoulder cannon. That would definitely be enough to break into their defenses and slaughter them all. My good nature took ahold of me as I began quickly making my way towards the krogan.

The krogan wasn't alone he was accompanied by a group of 4 humans it seemed that they were supposed to be protecting him. The thing was they were all facing in the same direction so they weren't expecting an attack from behind. That, as cowardly as it was, was what he was going to do.

My gun alone had no chance of killing the krogan so I had to think of a different way to go. Maybe if I let out a few shots to try and hit the shoulder cannon it would explode? It was a very crude rocket launcher for the time period. The rocket was in plain sight for the whole world to see making it entirely vulnerable to projectiles. The only kicker was I myself am not an entirely great shot and hitting that from far away wouldn't be able to happen in just one shot, or the amount of time I had before he launched the rocket.

So in order to hit it I would either A, spray and pray I hit the rocket, B distract him and focus his attention on me so he wouldn't immediately destroy the town or C, get in close enough to where I can hit it.

I decided to combine all three, and ran in yelling as loudly as I could and holding the trigger for as long as I could. It wasn't my best plan but it was entirely sufficient. The only downside of my plan was that I didn't calculate just how much of an explosion there would be so as I was running to him and firing I hit the rocket and was launched back as the explosion was large enough to incinerate the krogan and damage some of the guys standing next to him.

I was sent flying back into a tree and hit face first on a branch. So for the second time today I fell unconscious.

* * *

Pain greeted me like a mother would a child when I awoke. My body hurt and ached, but was tolerable for the moment. I just needed to know where exactly I was. I tried opening my eyes but all there was to see was darkness.

I panicked "I-I'm blind!" I started thrashing around but that only brought more pain on my body.

"Oh my god Austin…shut up." A familiar voice spoke.

"Cindy? Oh Cindy it's so good to hear your voice. But I'm blind Cindy where are you?!" I asked hoping everything was okay.

"You're such an idiot." She said as I heard some shuffling and steps moving towards something. Then with a flick a brightness attacked my vision. I waited until my eyes adjusted to the light and saw exactly where I was. I was laying on a bed in a room that resembled a med-center, and directly in front of me was Cindy glaring at me while rubbing her green eyes. "You're not blind. The lights were just off." She explained making me feel quite idiotic.

"Oh…well…I could've been blind." I told her.

"No you couldn't."

"Still a possibility."

"No there wasn't."

"…Damn." I said.

Cindy told me exactly what happened after I left the pod, it seemed that these guys were aware of the escape pod falling from the sky and were on their way to retrieve it when they were attacked by the raiders. When I had defeated the krogan, who turned out to be their boss, all the raiders fled and ran away for dear life.

"They all saw what you did for them and were like super grateful. How did you do that by the way?" Cindy asked.

I blushed slightly and looked away "Oh you know...the usual Austin special…" I would never in my life tell anyone what happened today.

"He ran in like a mad man and shot Grimlock until the missile exploded. Then he went flying like a bird into a tree branch and was out for the count". A woman said coming through the door with an air of authority with her. "Hello it's nice to finally meet the man who defeated Grimlock. I'm Elber Portlock 1st lieutenant of the Aitian Army." She put her hand out for me to shake. Which I tried to raise my arm but it was just too painful.

She pulled back her hand and from her face I could tell she was slightly embarrassed. "Oh my apologies …Anyway, you're 100% okay the only reason you're in pain was because of the crash and you flying into a tree. On behalf of the entire Fort Sécurité, we thank you for helping us in the attack." She gave me a small salute and I couldn't help but smile.

"My pleasure, though I have to ask. Is my friend Seen okay?" I worried about the answer given how bad of a shape he was in the last time I saw him.

"Other than a few very treatable infections, we were able to save him. Though he will be bedridden for a day or two." She informed me and pointed to the bed next to me. It was Seen sleeping in a sealed capsule. It was most likely to prevent anymore infections.

I started to relax knowing that my friend wasn't in critical condition anymore was a load off of my shoulders. I looked up at Cindy, because I was worried for her health, but she just gave me a look that said 'I'm fine' and I was content with that. "Alright you two. It seems that I should give you all some more time to rest, when you're ready I'll almost always be in the control room. It's right across the hall and should be clearly labeled 'control room'."

I thanked her for her hospitality as she left the room. "So…what made you charge face first at a krogan? Not a great idea." She asked me after a moment of silence. She pulled a chair next to the bed and sat down.

"Oh you know…just asking for directions." I joked which got a small smile out of her.

"No…seriously. What possessed you to take on an alien that was three times your size?" She asked once again which made me have to actually answer the question.

"I guess...in the heat of the moment it seemed like a good idea. Help the people getting attacked so they could help me, so they could help you and Seen. I probably could've done something that didn't involve me getting hurt this much but I didn't have the time….I can live with this pain if my friends are alright." I answered truthfully. All jokes aside these two are all I have right now and I'm not going to let anything happen to them.

"I'm your…friend?" Cindy asked as if she couldn't believe it. I paused, if Cindy had been in captivity for 10 years then that means she wouldn't have had any actual relationships like friends or family. I felt insanely pissed off at the batarians for taking so much time out of one little girls life.

"Of course you are!" I said sitting straight up ignoring the pain. "I know that ever since we left the ship we've been arguing and disagreeing…but I feel that it was warranted. You had just escaped from something that had been your life for almost a decade. I know I can't ever imagine your pain, but hopefully I can learn to understand it….I mean we all can understand it." I felt a bit passionate when I told her this. I maybe should calm down a bit, so I don't scare away my only friends.

Cindy looked away and I worried that I had said something wrong but she turned back to face me and I could see that tears were streaming down her face.

"Cindy! Are you ok-" I was interrupted by Cindy as she wrapped her arms around me into an embrace. I was shocked I sat as still as a stone not knowing how to react. After a bit I realized it might be common courtesy to…hug back. So I in turn did so and put my arms around her as well.

"I…I haven't had a friend in such a long time…as pathetic as that sounds." She said after a while of us awkwardly hugging. Maybe it was just me who thought it was awkward because the longer we hugged the longer I was in pain. Breaking the hug she looked me in the eyes and gave me a smile. "Thank you. It feels amazing to actually have friends again."

"You don't thank your friends for being your friends When Seen awakes I think he deserves just as much credit as I." I said to her and she nodded and went over to Seen waiting until he awoke.

All I had to do now was wait until my body didn't hurt as much.

I was given a new set of clothes because the rags from the ship I had on were basically incinerated save for the places where they were desperately needed. Basic camo pants, and a long sleeved shirt of white variation.

Seen was still bedridden but he was awake and livelier than ever just pretty pissed off at the moment seeing as he wouldn't be able to do anything for the rest of the day. After today he said he might be able to get up and help around the base. I use the term base loosely just because it really isn't a base but a place where a bunch of people with guns decided to call home. Also the 'soldiers' in the base weren't really soldiers. They were just men and women fighting for their home against those who would try and rule over them.

Though I still have no idea why people would try to live in a place where death was inevitable.

Currently Cindy and I were with the 1st lieutenant discussing a way off the planet. "It isn't as simple as you would think." Elber started bringing up a holo screen that displayed the world, she pointed to a place on the map that was indicated by a small orange circle. "This is where we are at the moment." She then zoomed a large amount into the planet and pointed again which was then indicated by a blue circle. "This is where the nearest shuttle station is the good thing is that it is safe and far away from any type of bandits or hostile faction. The only problem is that it's very far away, an estimated 80 klicks. Between us and the station is the faction that we were fighting before. The only way to get to the station is straight through them." She informed us.

"Why don't you just go around them? I asked.

"The area they are in is somewhat of a mountain pass. The mountains are impossibly difficult to navigate and are filled with dangerous wildlife that could kill with a swipe of their claws. They inhabit the only part of the terrain that is traversable. Our only option would be to go through them and at the moment that seems impossible." Elber closed the map seeing as it wasn't useful anymore.

"So what you're saying is that there is no way of getting off this planet?" Cindy said saying what I had feared.

"Not exactly...This is classified but seeing as how you proven yourself to be with us and not against us...we're in the middle of creating a plan that would diffuse the foundations of their faction and make them dissolve and run away. If you help us complete this plan and it's a success I can guarantee that you'll be able to get off this planet. Basically you help us and we help you." Elber said.

I looked at Cindy again it seemed that nowhere you go you will never be able to escape danger and adventure when you're traveling with a Shepard.

"So lieutenant….what's the plan?".

* * *

 _So yeah, this is the chapter. Was it awesome? Was it not awesome? Give me your input via Review! Oh and follow and favorite too._

 _So I'm looking for a BETA READER. If you want to do that than PM me. I just think I need someone to give me some outside input, because while you're by yourself you don't realize the faults of your work. Don't worry! I don't bite…on the face._

 _Thanks again for reading and there is definitely more to come!_

 _Sincerely, Otaku4now._

 **Fix the bold idiot.**


	5. Chapter 5

_Dear Readers,_

 _Ooops I did it again, I played with your hea-_

 _Hey guys, whats up! Have a nice last year?...sorry that was probably the dumbest question ever._

 _I mean no one had a nice 2016._

 _So that's why I'm leaving the problems of 2016 behind and continuing my story in 2017! I know that these updates are taking for ever, but bear with me. I just got into the mood again and whammo! I finished the chapter._

 _I don't wanna take anymore of your time, so before I leave I'd like to thank my beta reader CatBoiler._

 _He is a phenomenal writer and is helping me with my story, so check him out!_

 _I'll have more written at the bottom of this chapter, but until then…._ _ **Enjoy~!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: You see these words punk? I wrote these words, punk. The premise? I didn't write that, ya punk.**_

* * *

I ran track in highschool and like to think that after it I kept in pretty good shape. I mean, I wasn't the best at it. In fact, if I'm being honest, I only managed to be captain for the team during my senior year because all the other wonderful runners left.

All this flashes through my mind while I'm running side-by-side with Cindy to escape the jaws of growling and terrifying varren. At least I think they are. Unlike the ones in the game, with their limited animations and monotonous and predictable attack pattern, these were living breathing animals with teeth the size of knives (and just as sharp), and jaws ready to snap the neck of any living, breathing organism.

A static-y voice beams in my ear. I couldn't understand it, hell, the most important thing on my mind now was not being eaten rather than trying to decipher a load of static.

The static rings again but this time I can decipher the words. _"Keelah! Need any help?"_ It was Seen offering his assistance. I tried to relay the answer as best as I could that represented what Cindy and I were thinking.

" _Huff...that'd be nice...yes!...huff…"_ I yelled almost tripping over a root.

We were jumping ditches and weaving through trees as best as we could. The only reason we were still alive was down to the simple fact that we'd had a head start. Now they were close enough to spit on and I'm no champion spitter.

Yeah. That didn't come out right.

" _As you wish."_ Seen replied as an engine was roared in the distance. Distance was relative, it was actually zooming towards us like a slingshot.

A vehicle burst through the foliage looking to intercept our path. It was an M35 and had its fair share of battle scars, random assortments of metal were welded onto the hull in an effort to close gaps caused by enemy fire.

The vehicle showed no signs of slowing, evident from how the engine grew louder and more ferocious as it came closer. " _Don't stop running and jump at the last second! Trust me."_ I trusted Seen, and I he knows I do but I don't trust who was driving the damn thing.

Even so I knew I didn't have much of a choice. "Cindy! Don't stop running!" I repeated Seen's orders, since she lost her radio earlier, in between breaths.

She snapped her head towards me "Yeah, wasn't planning too." she said and kept running with an increased pace in her step.

Despite the difficulty to even breathe, I smiled and put everything I had into my run. While I was a distance runner I felt like I was also a pretty decent sprinter and with that bolstering my confidence I surged forward to run parallel with Cindy.

The M35 wasn't forgotten. It was only a hair's breadth away when Cindy and I jumped. Behind us we heard a sickening crunch of Varren and metal the former receiving most of the crunching. We fell right next to each other. Gasping for air, smiles plastered across our faces, our hands touched in a relieved high-five. The ultimate sign of accomplishment.

Seen jumped out of the tank on wheels and said "Keelah! Did you see that! I totally annihilated those bosh'tets!...I feel bad for them.." Seen slumped as depression set in.

"Are you still taking that medicine?" I asked my breath finally returned to normal.

"Doctor's orders. He said I should be fine…" Seen stumbled and barely stopped himself from falling as he found a shoulder on the M35.

I shook my head in the ridiculousness that had just occurred, and that was perpetually occurring. Hm, I just realized that the perpetually occurring ridiculousness was actually just my life. I wondered what exactly got me into this mess. Oh wait I remember it actually started like this..

* * *

 _FlashBack_

"So, Lieutenant…what's the plan?"

Elber turned her attention towards me and her long brunette hair turned with her. She cleared her throat and said "It's quite simple, really, all you have to do is walk through the enemy's camp, and… blow them up."

I did a spit-take with the invisible drink that I was currently not drinking. "WHAT?" was my response. Elber raised an eyebrow because it seemed my spit take was quite awkward without the dramatic effect of liquid bursting from my mouth.

I checked the make-believe watch on my wrist. "Hmm...I don't think it's time for me to die...so maybe we not do that?" I was half-serious, while there was no watch, it was still nowhere near the time for my death. "I don't know if I can go, see, I might be late to my doctor's appointment at two."

"Very funny Austin. I'll have to find time for laughing when I find the humor, which from previous experience with your satire, isn't very likely." Elber replied, and I'm not going to lie that hurt more than being launched into a tree.

"It's a lot more complicated than I've led you to believe, but… look, if you want the complicated answer with guerrilla tactics and unorthodox methods than you will have to wait." Elber explained.

"Lady everything about us is unorthodox" I responded.

"Be that as it may, it isn't necessary for you to know anything other than what your missions are. If you were to be captured and the information of our operation leaked, we'd be compromised. It's not that we don't trust you to keep them secret, we just know that their methods of... persuasion are very persuading." Elber explained. "I'll leave it to our Head Engineer to explain the vitals. She should be arriving soon, I sent for her before we began the meeting."

Before I could dismiss it further Cindy asked, "What would we make them go... boom with?" Her question was followed by her doing a tiny gesture on her hand of an explosion.

In response to Cindy's question a petite girl with dyed red hair, who was also covered in grease and oil and equipped in blue overalls that screamed grease monkey, came in lugging a spherical metal object the size of a very small bowling ball.

"It's not going to make anything go boom. I'd like to think of it more like a _pzzt_." She answered as she made her way to us and smiled.

"This is Tinker. Head mechanic and electrical technician. Tinker, this is Austin who killed Grimlock, and this is his friend Cindy. They have agreed to help us in our endeavors against our enemy." Elber explained to Tinker to which the girl smiled a wide grin showing pearly whites which were dissimilar to her outside appearance.

"Actually I just _tinker_ in electrical technology." She giggled at her horrendous pun. "But it still is nice to meet you." She said and gave Cindy and me a mock salute. To my horror I saw Cindy actually smile at the little girls joke. You think you know someone, am I right?

She turned her attention toward me, "I just wanted to give you my complete thanks. You have no idea how many times I had to repair the M35 because of the dumb krogan's tendency to blow up anything that moves...I've used so many spare parts that I can't even call it a M35 anymore it's a hybrid of various metals that we scavenged I mean even if we weren't fighting why'd did he have to specifically target that?! God." She blew out a sigh of relief after her ranting. "Anyway, again thank you."

"Enthusiastic inhale!" I said.

"...Did you just say an expression?" Tinker asked incredulously.

"My excitement got the better of me." and excited I was, the only vehicle in this universe with the ensign of M35 was none other than a Mako. How they got a hold of one was beyond me but I still had to pretend I had no idea what it was. Amnesia sucks.

"I mean I'm just so happy that you're thankful for what I did! I really like being appreciated!" Yeah...let's go with that. "Anyway, No worries...just doing my job. I'm just glad I stopped him from doing any real damage." I humbly replied.

My reply seemed sufficient to everyone except Cindy, from her I received a quirked eyebrow. I smiled at her reassuringly and she just shook her head. I turned my attention back to Tinker, which I immediately regretted. "Well thankfully fully you got here... _Aust- in time!_ " She joked.

…

…

…

"I love a good pun as much the next guy, but that was just horrible," I said.

"Yeah I'll even admit that was pretty bad..."

"Do better next time," I quipped.

"I'll try," she said, grinning.

"That's enough, you two," said Elber. "You can talk more later _after_ we finish discussing the plan…"

"Yeah, yeah we get it." Tinker began, "the plan that we have is a simple one. You cradle this EMP like the baby it is and carry it into the direct center of the camp. Once it detonates we'll be able to drive in with _my…_ I mean _our_ Mako. The moment we have secured you we will then begin to take over territory that belongs to the opposite faction. What you'll be using to complete this is very special so be careful with it. It clocks in at about 7.5 pounds or 3.4 kilograms for you weirdos." She paused allowing us to get a good look at the metal bowling ball, once she thought the information had been absorbed she continued. "His name is Forate. Get it? For-Aite I came up with it myself. Anyway, inside of his metal shell is enough electromagnetic radiation to render a whole mile of technology obsolete," she said, tossing it to me.

I fumbled to catch it in my hands and almost dropped it on the ground but luckily my sharp reflexives were enough to…

 _Clank_

It slipped out of my hands at the last second and my heart stopped as it hit the floor.

"Thankfully it can only be remote activated by me at my station," said Tinker, laughing at the look of horror on my face. "Don't worry, it uses intense infrared waves to transmit a signal discernible enough to be recognized as my own. So no matter how far you go or what you do to it, only I will be able to blow it up."

"That's... reassuring." Cindy said.

"So we're just going to do this now? No discussion or...?"

"It goes without saying that you all are not ready to commence the operation. Your friend, the Quarian, is still bedridden for a week. His suit is damaged and dirty, but luckily we were able to patch it without him suffering more than a sniffle." said Elber. "Until your friend is ready, we can teach you proper combat and espionage, something you may have to come to terms with if anything goes wrong and no, running head first into an enemy does not count as any of those," she finished, intentionally jabbing my pride.

It seems that Cindy was already set on the plan. Or rather she didn't see any alternative. Even so there was no convincing her otherwise and Seen didn't have much of a choice in the matter either.

All the eyes were on me. Waiting to hear if I was onboard with the plan. The bastards. Making it seem like I actually had a choice. "When do we start?"

Elber smiled and said "Immediately."

…

I was slammed into the ground with the visage of a sweaty and incredibly intimidating Cindy hovering over me in victory.

Awesome.

Besides the fact that my back and head hurt after the whooping I received, I was in awe of her natural skill.

We've been training for quite a while now, almost a week. Throughout the week we've been attacked at least twice, all of which we successfully repelled. It seems that without their leader they have been weakened considerably. This made me feel a bit better about going through with the plan, at least this way there is less of a chance of being horribly killed.

After being demolished by Cindy I started to wonder about Shepard. Normally I played as a male in the Mass Effect games, but there was a time I shifted to the other side of the gender spectrum. I felt that Jane Shepard had her own swagger and confidence that her male counter-part lacked. I wonder if she would be the same here.

Cindy's offered hand took me out of my thoughts. I took her hand and she helped me off the ground. "Sorry for laying you into the ground like that, Austin. I think I just got caught up in the moment," she said, grinning.

I waved it off. "No don't apologize. That was an amazing throw, and if anything I should have tried harder."

At the moment we were being taught defensive techniques. In earnest I wasn't listening much to the explanation on the origin of the moves and the way to properly execute them. I felt that after someone has gotten to a point in where I couldn't blast them with a blaster, I'd be doomed.

Now after we all 'agreed' on the plan Elber sent us to the barracks where we would be trained. We were set to start training immediately. 'Training' was a light term for what we experienced. Bootcamp was a better word for it. They wanted us in optimal shape, so we tasked with running 5 miles everyday in the morning.

First we were drilled on how to arm the bomb, we then were taught how to turn off the bomb in case one of us were to 'accidently set it off like an idiot' and how to 'respect the EMP'. Tinker felt that it was her duty to constantly remind me that it isn't a bomb, but an EMP and I felt it was my duty to remind her there wasn't a difference.

"You're the ones that need to turn the bomb on. Then and only then will I be able to send my signal to make it explode. Once you turn it on a 5 minute timer will activate, once it reaches zero all electronics will be fried and you'll be in the midst of hundreds of scrambling enemies. That's why we have this-" Tinker explained taking out a small...walkie-talkie? I couldn't believe that that kind of technology was still used.

"What's that thing?" Cindy asked pointing at the portable communication device in Tinker's hands.

"This, my lady and gentleman, is called a handheld transceiver from waaaay back in the day. This is most likely the only thing on this planet that can survive an EMP blast. Reason being is because this EMP isn't just any regular old EMP, it's one that blocks mass effect fields. It took a while for me to replicate this technology but I finally got it down to the science." Tinker boasted displaying the bomb in a new light, like literally she picked up the bomb and held it in the light.

"How the hell did you make that?" I asked.

"I'm glad you asked!" she cleared her throat and prepared for an epic recollection of the story. "It was a peaceful night and I had just finished fixing the M35 when…"

 _Flashback_

Tinker was sitting on the ground, contemplating whether or not the she could weld a broken lugnut back over a bolt, when alarms rang across the complex. She dropped her tools and wiped her brow, it wasn't long until Elber entered the room accompanied by a squad of 5 men.

"Tinker! Is the Mako operational?" Elber asked demanding an immediate response.

Tinker scratched her head in thought. It had only been a day since the M35 had returned from battle. It was dinged and scratched, and the internal engine had received blunt trauma from a idiotic crash from an inexperienced driver. Even so, today it looked almost like it had made by a blind quarian. It looked like crap but she was almost certain that it would work.

She nodded "Yeah that hunk of metal is a tough one, she can stand another mission."

Reassured Elber ordered her men to start the engines. "We'll be back soon."

"Wait! Where are you going!?" Tinker asked, her question flooded with a natural sense of curiosity.

Elber contemplated telling her but decided that there was no time do so. "That information is on a need to know basis." With that said Elber closed the door of the M35 and took off.

 _End of flashback_

"When they came back, Elber and her squad, lost at least three men and another had been captured. They were trying to secure the ship but it didn't go well, they found themselves receiving fire from the Grot's and were only able to salvage a little before they were forced off the ship."

"The Grots?

"The enemy faction. They go under the name Grot. You didn't know that? God, you are really dumb." Tinker commented. I was flabbergasted and felt even more offended than before when Cindy began nodding her head in agreement.

"Rude!" I said before letting her continue.

"Anyway, with the salvage I was able to piece together what exactly I was supposed to do with it through means of reverse engineering and bingo! I did it. Not just a pretty face huh?" She seemed to be extremely proud of her feat.

"That's actually pretty awesome. I'll give it to ya, there is no way I could possibly do that. I'm just a pretty face." I admitted.

"You are so conceited." Cindy said. I nodded my head, it was a well known fact with the entire base of my conceitedness. We continued our talking and the entire debrief went smoothly. When it was over I decided to check on my friend Seen, to see how he was healing.

…

"A Chirveron Conductor? Keelah, your tech is horrible! Should I even call it tech? I've seen more advanced circuitry in a plasma toaster." Seen complained as he toyed with the random assortment of technology splayed out across the floor.

"Well I'm sure that once you've _seen_ it all, you'll think that it's amazing." Tinker said which earned her a glare from Seen. Although it wasn't very intimidating, his white eyes seemed to narrow if only a little, and she returned it with a smile.

"Miss Rodriguez, I'll have to politely ask you not to harass my... patient. I have a shortage of them as it is," the doctor told Tinker, whose terrible jokes could be the death of Seen if his injuries weren't, but he wasn't amused.

"I never gave you permission to call me that. My name is Seen'Geel. I hate when people call me Seen, the only reason I let Austin and Cindy call me that is because we are friends. You and I, and your disgusting puns, are not on such terms." For a usually calm quarian, it was quite uncharacteristic of him to bark like that.

I opened the door before the both of them could tear each other's throats out. "Seen I feel like the medicine has somewhat of an influence against you. You're much more...vocal while under it." I commented looking at the healing/wounded quarian. He wasn't completely rehabilitated but at least he was walking again, albeit with a slight limp.

To deal with the pain of walking he was given a small dose of a weak painkiller, and coupled with the medicine to avoid infections, it must have triggered some unwanted but not totally serious neurological effects. I hoped they were temporary or else we would have a very vocal and impaired quarian on our hands.

"That hasn't really happened before, but seeing as this medication is prescribed by and for humans, I can't say that it isn't a side effect. Even so it isn't medically alarming, his immune system can handle it I assure you." The doctor said trying to alleviate my worries, which he was only slightly successful at doing.

Seen gave me a look that said... something. I haven't known him long enough to discern quarian emotions but I guessed it was a smile of some kind by what he said. "My friend! Austin, I've missed you and Cindy! Why did you leave me?" he said happily, until the end of the sentence which then morphed into a depressed tone.

"Seen, we had lunch together." I reminded him.

"Yes but that feels so long ago…" he said.

"It was at least an hour ago."

Seen glared at me. "You are supposed to be my _friend_ …not my...mother." After saying that Seen yawned and placed his hand on my shoulder. "I'm…so tired," he muttered, lowering his head.

"I think the medicine has finally begun to have an effect. It'd be best to place him on the bed so he can rest," said the doctor. It was easier said than done, Seen had fell asleep by leaning himself on me. It was hard to carry the quarian, he was a lot heavier than he looked. Even so with the help of the doctor we gently placed him on the bed mat allowing him to enjoy his drug-induced slumber.

"How much longer?" I asked the doctor.

He knew what I meant and responded appropriately "A few more days and he'll be right as rain, the only reason why it took this long was because of his quarian immune system. If he was human he would've been better by last week."

That made sense at least. I thanked the doctor for his help and left the room leaving the snoring quarian with the stoic doctor.

Before I could roam the hallways I bumped into something small. "I'm sorry! I wasn't loo-" I blew a sigh of relief, it was just Tinker. "Oh, it's just you."

"What the hell does that mean! Am I less applicable for an apology because I'm me?! Triggered!" She joked.

I smiled, but something bothered me, it bothered me enough that Tinker was able to tell by looking at my face.

"What is it Austin?" She asked, she currently held a doo-dad in her hand and a screwdriver in the other.

I contemplated whether or not to express my worries. Sure we had been trained and drilled in techniques and given advantages that would allot us an edge, but anything could happen. On the ship I hadn't had time to think about what I was doing, or what could have happened to all of us if we failed.

The past few weeks I've been thinking about the deaths that I have caused. Forget about the batarian slavers, I killed enough of them in Mass Effect to not feel anything when they die, but the slaves themselves. Daryl especially. I didn't know him that well, but it was my fault he was dead. My plan got him killed and I am entirely liable for that. I guess...I'm just worried that the same might happen to Cindy or Seen.

"It's...how confident are you in your bomb?" I avoided asking what was really bothering me, I do that a lot.

A visible tick mark appeared on her head, "How many times do I have to tell you that it isn't a 'bomb', it's an EMP!" she said with only a slight aura of annoyance around her.

I shrugged "Possibly a few more, if I'm even alive long enough to continue asking you."

"Don't say that, you're being trained and equipped with the best of what we have. Got it?" Her reassuring words only helped a little, we were lucky that the ship was being attacked when we made our escape. If that didn't happen I'm not so sure we would be able to get out.

Tinker gently grabbed my arm. "It's not going to be like _that."_ she said referencing the ship escape, we had told them everything after the plan debriefing or rather I did most of the talking while everyone listened in excitement."You're going to have Seen and I as back up. Albeit we are going to be a few miles away."

I gave her a half smile "Yeah, thanks. You're right. What do I have to worry about? I have Cindy by my side." I joked, at the mention of Cindy she let go of my arm.

"Cindy. She'll keep you safe, I'm sure. I have to get back to my duties.." Tinker said quickly vacating the room. I gave her a quizzical look as she left but she didn't turn back as she left.

"Man, you are horrible with women." The doctor said from the room I had just left, Seen was still snoring loudly. "He's asleep and he'd probably be able to read the situation better than you." He added.

Without saying anything I finally left the hallway to eat lunch or something.

I'll spare you the details of the grueling training they put us through for the next week. It was painful and I dreaded waiting for the entire month to end before they saw the three of us(Seen included) were finally able to walk out in the forest without being killed indefinitely.

We did the mission we were supposed to, brought the bom-EMP to the middle of the camp successfully, and finally informed Tinker to detonate it. Though that is where the plan kinda...hitched.

You see the evac point was approximately supposed to be only a few miles away, and with the confusion of the emp it should've allotted us plenty of time to run there.

So the problem was that...they were not as confused as we thought. I mean they were confused alright, pretty freaking terrified, but when we were walking in the opposite direction of the chaos they put two and two together and got four.

What I mean by that is that we were busted. One thing led to another and we ended up running away from a pack of varren set on us by a crazed batarian.

So now we were relaxing in the M35. I was sitting across from Cindy and next to Seen. Tinker was driving us to the spaceport. It was an hours drive but it was a welcome wait for Cindy and I. We were finally able to regain our breath.

I broke the silence. "That was...intense. Almost can't believe we made it." My comment wasn't lost on Cindy.

"Im sure I would've made it, especially if you fell and gave me more time to run while the varren were chewing on your bones." Cindy said, and it made me unsure if she was actually joking or if she was serious.

"Well, that is a wonderful thought. Let me just digest that real quick...alright all good." I said, scratching the side of my nose trying to get rid of an itch that had been bothering me.

"You humans and your itching. I thought that when you evolved from primates you were supposed to leave that behind." Seen commented. He panicked after he said it. "I'm sorry! The medicine must not be out of my system yet…"

Tinker looked back from the steering wheel. "With Austin I'm not surprised if he came directly from a monkey. " she said, making monkey noises.

"Keep your eyes on the road!" I yelled, not only because what she said was totally uncalled for, but also because we were on the path towards a tree. She looked quickly and without being the slightest worried shifted the M35 to avoid colliding with the tree like it had with the varren, except we would end up like the varren.

"I know this vessel like the back of my wrench. That also means I know any path it takes like the back of my other wrench." she took out a wrench from her pocket, with the other hand on the wheel, and twirled it around her hand for added effect.

"Yeah, yeah you're a showoff." I said.

…

We had been talking for what seemed like a short time, when Tinker stopped the M35. "Hey kiddies. We are here, Elber said she wishes she could be here, to see you all off. "

We all exited the Mako quickly, we were cramped and I hate sitting in a cars/super fast tanks.

While stretching I said "Yeah, she would have just been a bossy bessie if she was here, but oddly I will miss that lady." I thought about it for a second. "Does that make me a sadist?" I asked.

"With your track record i'm pretty sure you already are one." Cindy commented.

Tinker smiled, but there was a tinge of sadness to it. The ship was over yonder, I could see it, a dingy old hunk of metal but past experiences told me not to judge a piece of trash by its smell. I looked back over to Tinker. I didn't know what I was thinking but whatever I was thinking obviously didn't compute with my mind when I said. "Come with us."

It shocked her, and possibly my two friends. I didnt care, I was still wondering why I asked that.

She was quiet for a little, but she soon shook her head. "It would be amazing if I did, but I can't. They need me here. I'm all they got…" she said.

I also got quiet. We all bonded over the month, even if it seemed really quick we all shared laughs and food, and really that's all that solidifies a friendship for me, but I knew we all had our responsibilities to handle. Mine was making sure the galaxy is safe, and Cindy sees her sister once again.

"...I understand...it was nice meeting you. Once we touch down we will get in touch. I promise." I promised, and with that we all walked to the ship.

"Austin!..." Tinker called out. I looked back, and she said "Don't forget about me."

I smiled "Forget about you? I don't even think that's possible."

…

...

"We are going to Mindoir." Cindy commanded as we walked to the ship, it's ship doors opening like a mailbox. I tried to object but she shut me down, I still wanted to go to Omega to more or less become a mercenary king, but with the addition of Seen joining her side I was outnumbered.

"Previously I wanted to go to the Citadel, but I realize now we would be stranded there with no money and that is a cruel place when you have no money." Seen said. "At least there we have someone who has ties and a sense of familiarity with the place."

Cindy seemed to beg me with her eyes, but I knew that even if I refused she would still get me to go. It was her personality to not let people order her around, and after years of confinement in an environment where that was her only way of survival it was extremely commendable.

I nodded, looking out the ship's window, it had already lifted off the ground and in mere seconds we were flying miles above the surface of the dastardly planet Aite. I had grown attached to it as unbelievable as that sounds. I raised my hand to touch the glass, the sun was shining on it for the entire time it was docked and the thick glass couldn't help but retain some of the heat.

"To Mindoir." I said, and I knew without a doubt that nothing would get in between us and what we believed in.

 _Dear Readers,_

 _So I can't wait to hear your response about this chapter. It seems rushed because unfortunately I had too. I was insanely busy during my Hiatus and the original plan was to continuously post at least 4-5 more chapters in Aite. To add a real sense of home and belonging, but as you know MASS EFFECT ANDROMEDA is coming out in like 2 months. So in spirit of that momentous event I decided to undergo a major timeskip._

 _(I will not lie I pre-ordered it! That and Halo Wars 2)_

 _The timeskip will bring our heros right on time within the beginnings of Mass Effect 1._

 _The next chapter will also have new changes in addition. For what they are, well you'll just have to wait and I promise you won't have to wait for months!_

 _Also ignore the first two reviews for the fifth chapter, one has been resolved and the other was my less than intelligent friend. I had to remove this chapter once because I posted the unfinished version on accident. It has also been resolved!_

 _Sincerely, Otaku4now._

 _P.S. Favorite and Review!_


	6. Cindy

_Dear Readers,_

 _I'm dreadfully sorry about the wait._

 _Sincerely, Otaku4now_

 _Everything in italics is a flashback_

 **Big thanks to my beta reader Catboiler! He has his own stories you should check them out!**

 **Disclaimer: Tell me if you google up who made Mass Effect does it say Otaku4now? No? Well then that's the disclaimer.**

* * *

The hand on her shoulder, while filled with good intentions, only served to push her further into despair.

Her hand brushed against the white marbled stone. It was a chilling feeling, almost indescribable. She had no confidence in her voice, but nonetheless she said out loud "Here lies Cindy Shepard, a loving daughter, sister, and friend." She was at the memorial for the Mindoir raid, all around her were her neighbors, friends, and most importantly...family.

Cindy found herself completely complacent with sitting at her gravestone with her family, like she actually was buried in the ground with them. "Cindy...your sister. She isn't here." Austin reassured her, "That means that she isn't dead, that she's somewhere out in the world." This wasn't lost on her - she fully understood that her sister was still alive when she saw the three gravestones, but to hear it out in the open brought her such an immediacy of emotions that she began to shed tears.

She hadn't cried in a while, she thought as she allowed the tears to stream down her face.

The last time, if she could recall correctly, was when she regained consciousness all those years ago.

…

 _She was cold, her father's arms no longer provided the comfort they had when she was carried into the ship. "Daddy?...Daddy..?" He had tried to soothe her to sleep with her favorite story, it had almost worked, she had stopped paying attention and began to succumb to the lull of sleep, but when his embrace became cold and loose, sleep left her._

" _Daddy are you sleeping? You're sleeping aren't you? Aren't you…" Cindy reasoned, he was just tired from carrying her all day, but if Daddy was sleeping then why was she crying? She wiped the tears from her face with her father's shirt but to her surprise no matter how many times she wiped the tears continued to flow._

 _"Shut up! I'm not gonna spend my entire time listening to a brat cry!" the monster yelled, slamming the metal bars of the cage they were in with his gun. Cindy, distraught with emotions and the mentality and recklessness of a ten year old flipped him the middle finger. She knew that these kinds of alien were called batarian, but to her now they were fully and permanently imprinted as horrible and vile monsters only capable of death and greed, and so this warranted the worst thing that she could possibly do at her age._

 _The foul beast crudely smiled; it was a mockery of everything human. He opened the cages, pointing his weapon at anyone who dared to try something. "Fucking cunt, I'll show you how to quiet down…" The malicious intent in his voice was obvious and appalling. Cindy squealed and cowered behind what used to be her father._

 _Before the monster could touch her an authoritative voice called out "Don't touch them you dumbass!" The batarian immediately stopped. "Don't break merchandise you can't pay for," continued the voice. It was different, harsh but...feminine. Cindy eyes widened, a pretty blue face exposed itself to her, in school she learned about all races and this…..asari, she recalled was one of them._

 _The batarian forgot entirely about Cindy, his attention now on the asari. His multiple eyes cascaded against the asari's scantily-_ _clad_ _body. It seemed that the asari was used to this because she paid no mind to it. This, in secret was one of the asari's weapons, the use of seduction to strike swiftly and suddenly. "Maybe you can tell this shit-turd, that if she continues to cry I'll cut of her tongue and use it to clean up her blood, so she can taste her death." he said, using a knife he equipped from his belt for emphasis._

 _The asari scoffed "Where does Tumbo even get you guys? He better not be recruiting behind a vorcha-infested garbage dump." she remarked, but when the batarian offered a rebuttal she effectively ignored him and turned her attention to the sniffling human child._

 _The asari scanned her with blue investigative eyes. "How pretty, red hair, green bright eyes...even after all this a strong fire exists in your heart…." The asari looked to be contemplating something before she stated "I want her." It was wholeheartedly a command and the batarian didn't take to well to that._

" _Are you kidding? This one will fetch us high prices, it's still young and as you said very pretty. That red hair will earn us tens of thousands of cre-" The batarian was lifted up 11 feet into the air flailing and cursing at the asari all the while. She looked blankly at him as he was lifted up effortlessly by her biotics, Cindy would learn later in her life that she accomplished this without moving a finger._

 _"One. One second would be all that it takes to crush you." As she said that her hand began to slowly clench until the batarian suspended in the air conceded. Her using her hand was only a formality so he would know how much time he had left before he was crushed._

" _Fine! FINE! Take her! It doesn't matter to me if he comes after you!" The batarian said, immediately after he was promptly dropped on the ground. He moved to the side so the asari could make her way in._

 _With one final regard to the ugly batarian she said "Let me deal with Tumbo. He likes me because he doesn't pay me." The asari turned to the young Cindy and smiled. "You're coming with me," she said, and Cindy tried to refuse but the look on the asari's face, and her previous demonstration of biotics, explained that there was no other choice._

" _Let me bring daddy," Cindy sniffled, the raw feelings she went through earlier had diminished heavily but at any moment she would be able to let loose a torrent of emotion. It may have been the reason for why the asari allowed it without complaint. Or she didn't really care if Cindy lugged around a dead body._

 _"When we get on ground you bury it," said the asari.. Cindy nodded, still sniffing. "Wonderful. My name is Ge'ne Vazea, but my friends call me Ge, your name?" The asari said to the little girl._

" _...Cindy." She said, she found this asari to be so much nicer than the monsters she had witnessed before._

" _Cindy…I don't like that very much...Cind it is. Catchier," remarked the asari. "Let's go, or else I'm leaving you here." Cindy oblivious to the seriousness, followed anyways. Ge lifted up her father's corpse with her biotics and hauled it the entire way with them, she seemed unperturbed by the weight and extended use of her powers._

 _The ship they were in was large, and dark. Almost unconsciously Cindy reached for Ge's hand. Before she grasp it, Ge slapped her hand._

" _You don't get to touch me." Ge said coldly but before Cindy could retaliate with whimpers and cries she said "I have alien cooties." Cindy didn't think that that was an appropriate response, but she kept it to herself anyway. And so they walked the rest of the way to her ship, and for the next 7 years she was under the tutelage of an ex-asari commando._

…

Cindy didn't realize she was relaying the story vocally when Austin asked "What happened to her? Why did you leave?" Cindy contemplated telling them, it was immensely personal but the few months they have been together have made them closer than ever before.

"She trained me in almost everything from tech to guns to biotics, she had her own way of using biotics. Instead of propelling them with hands she sent them through her legs. It was harder to aim, but it threw the biotics twice as fast. I never picked it up as well as I should have, but even so I was her first and worst student she'd used to tell me. She would spend hours teaching and training me.

I became okay with her biotics but it was obvious from the beginning that I had a...a _way_ with weapons. Biotic training became second to firearms. It took years, but I got good enough to be on my own. She had a partner, another asari. She never told me the name, but she always looked at me with disgust, but it wasn't because of anything I did. I found out why she stared at me like this years later." Cindy reminisced. "I never missed a shot, and I could use my biotics once or twice in a pinch. She didn't have anything left to teach me, and I was set to go off on my own. But before I could Ge's partner came into my room at night and, she told me everything." Cindy paused and swallowed.

"Ge...helped orchestrate the raid that killed my family," she said, and Austin's eyes widened in shock. "She took me in as a way to…. _repent_ for her sins…I always knew she had a hand in the raid, but I never knew she specifically planned it. I had grown to admire and respect her, but never was there even an ounce of love in our relationship, for me at least. That day I showed her just exactly how true that was." Cindy took in a sharp and emotionally painful breath. It seemed years of pent up emotion had begun to peek through the corners of the wall she had put up. She pushed it down; it wasn't the time to let loose.

"I tried killing her. I used everything she trained me in, but I wasn't strong enough. She tossed me to the side like the years of tutelage was for nothing. I was able to injure her, a shot took her ear off. I almost died because of that but even after our battle she decided to let me go. She said " _I may as well have killed your father and mother...I won't kill you as well."_ And with that she left.

"That's the last time I saw her. I tried to make it back to Mindoir but we in a bad place of Omega. I didn't make it far before I was outnumbered and captured by pirates. Then...years of captivity and you popped up." Cindy turned to Austin. She hadn't realized how much she owed him and Seen. While the plan wasn't well-thought out or particularly hard to carry out it was the learned helplessness that floated between the minds of every single captive.

Austin rubbed the back of his neck in slight nervousness "Aw, shucks. It wasn't much," he said to her. It looked like there was nothing left to say until he remembered something. "You said you can use biotics? Why haven't I seen you use them once?" he asked.

Cindy looked down at her legs "My biotics aren't conventional so to say. I adapted her style of biotics. Maintaining a mass effect field on the legs instead of the arms. Few asari can do it properly, and no human could ever perfect it," Cindy replied sheepishly. "I can't throw anything like her, but my kicks can get through shields. It's all a matter of CQC. One kick and they'll be flying in the air from a lift, or launched by a throw."

Austin's face showed a detailed expression of amazement and Seen, who had kept quiet for most of the time, seemed to do the same through his visor. "Like you said, Austin. Jane...Jane is still out there. She was always stronger than me. She would be a survivor and survive. Now all we have to do is go get her." Cindy said, her sadness seemed to have been replaced by a fierce determination that she remarked to herself as 'quaint'.

Seen and Austin looked at each other, they nodded and said "Let's go find your sister." Cindy looked at her friends, and for the first time in a while she genuinely smiled.

* * *

It took us a while, around a year, but we were close to finding Shepard. I mean the older Shepard, not the one we already have. I thought it would've been a lot faster than this, but old Jane is an elusive one she is. (I secretly came to terms with the fact that we probably wouldn't be able to find her until Eden Prime or when she becomes a spectre.)

Also the reason it took us so long was well...money and customs. We needed money to fund the trip to find Jane, and customs was for establishing our identities. Even in the future the process for identity creation isn't friendly.

Still don't miss character customization.

Like I said before money was an incredible problem. We needed a way off Mindoir and since we had no connections the only way was through hard-work. Cindy and I worked as bodyguards, the major requirement for this was to, in the words of the contractor, _bring your own guns_ , which we did. Seen on the other hand made both of what me and Cindy made as a technician. Turns out he has a natural-affinity for that kind of thing.

We didn't see much action as bodyguards, we met some high-profile targets, ambassadors, mayors, rich people, we met a krogan celebrity whose name was I kid you not, Sam. Needless to say Sam and I became good friends. He wasn't a fighter, wasn't even born on Tuchanka. He was raised by his human god-father after his parents died fighting in some mercenary job. In a human colony he was discriminated against, but was oblivious to it. I mean who would want to try and bully a krogan? Anyways he found a love for the arts and became one of the first mainstream krogan actors. He is around a few hundred years old, but still has a large influence in today's media.

I was currently with him right now, we kept in contact after he left planet for another movie, and we were enjoying a chat over drinks. "-if you just let me I can make a screenplay about your story! I'll even cast an actual quarian for your friend Seen!" Sam said with exaggerated hand movements that were characteristically human, but his size and weight worked against him moving the table up and down. He was in a fancy suit, black and white, that looked swell and complimented his blue head plate. Though the suit made me feel underdressed in my white t-shirt and sweatpants.

If he was bothered by being seen (heh) with me than he didn't show it. "Who would play me? The dashing and handsome hero?" I asked with only a tinge of seriousness, I was actually curious about the movie.

Sam thought this was an almost yes so he became more enthusiastic about it. "Why me of course! It'd be an honor to play my dear friend!" he said and I couldn't tell if he was serious or not. I took a sip of my drink, it was sorta like a Shirley Temple, except alien. Even so it was a blend of sugary deliciousness.

In response I rose my eyebrow and shook my head. "What? Don't think I can play you!? I'll have you know I am a decorated actor!" Sam said, once again plugging in his status as an elite celebrity. While conceited it still was commendable, he was the first krogan to pretty much get every award he has.

"It's not that." I said "Go ahead, send me an email when it comes out." I told him as my new omni-tool beeped. It was Seen telling me to come back to the apartment. "I gotta head back, it's your turn to pay for drinks right?" I said as I pushed in my chair and put on my jacket.

"Didn't I pay last time?" Sam remarked as he leaned back in his chair, which surprisingly didn't break at his weight.

"Yeah well coincidentally you are very rich." I said nonchalantly which prompted a hearty laugh from Sam. It was a real krogan laugh, deep and genuine.

"I'll see you when I see you Austin, I'll make sure you get some royalties for the movie." Sam said as he pulled out his omni-tool to start preparations.

I gave him a look that said _please do I'm poor_ and waved goodbye. Sam was a real good friend and a very interesting fellow. If a friendship between Wrex and I doesn't work I find solace that at least one krogan will like me.

I opened the door to the apartment. It was a perfect size for the three of us, and insanely cheap. The price was because of the view, or lack of view. The window to the outside displayed a wall, which meant it was insanely dark almost all the time. Claustrophobia is a small sacrifice for affordable living. There was two floors, the bottom floor has two rooms, one for me, and one for Seen. The top floor has one room, obviously for Cindy. We have a meager kitchen directly across from my room and a spacious enough living room. We forgone a tv mostly because the rates for television in the future were even more ridiculous than what came in my time.

Seen was pressing a torrent of buttons on his omni-tool at a speed inhuman, accurate seeing as he wasn't human, but a quarian. His suit was different from what it was when I first met him. He was now a dark green, a color that didn't stand out and could blend in with what was around him. It perfectly suited his style of combat, he was a quiet and lethal warrior with his technology. Although he still didn't like fighting, this is why he isn't bodyguarding with us and is working as a tech-guy.

"Honey I'm home!" I called out as I closed the door behind me, Seen looked in my direction. First shaking his head in response to my greetings, and then waving me to come over to him. "What no kiss?" I joked as tossed my coat onto the couch. "What's up?" I asked him as I came into speaking distance.

"I think I've got a bead on sister Shepard's location. Well not an exact location but a good enough indicator of where she is." Seen said, pulling up a newspaper article on his omni-tool titled _Eden Prime's savior Commander Shepard_. "It seems Cindy's sister has made quite a name for herself." Seen remarked as he swiped a finger from his omni-tool into my direction. My omni-tool picked up the transfer and in a moment I was looking at the same article he had.

 **Eden Prime's Savior Commander Shepard**

 _This idyllic agrarian world was one of the first human colonies established beyond the Charon mass relay. Eden Prime's fertile biosphere drew heavy immigration by the Systems Alliance and other human organizations. It is with great shock that Eden Prime was attacked by unknown forces at such an unexpected time. The losses on Eden Prime were heavy and catastrophic but the loss of life was diminished by an unexpected hero named Jane Shepard of the Systems Alliance Military. With her team they were successfully able to push back and save the remaining survivors on Eden Prime. Now on the citadel Shepard and her team meet with the Council in several meetings of unknown importance. The Commander declined to comment._

"Do you think this is her?" Seen asked, if only to confirm his suspicions.

"Well, according to this article it says she's from the alliance, and from what we were told that is exactly where she would be. Plus she looks exactly like Cindy." I said in reference to the picture attached to the article.

Seen nodded, and hummed in corroboration. "When do we tell her?" Seen asked.

"Tell who what…?" Cindy asked as she walked through the door. Cindy had just come back from her shift,

This wasn't a secret for the both of us to keep from her. "Tell _you, this."_ Seen said as he swiped the article from his omni-tool towards her. In response her omni-tool beeped and she activated it immediately.

It only took a second for her to read the title and say "we're leaving." There was no room for debate, and neither of us wanted to either.

"Let me get my suits!" Seen said as he bolted to his room. I chuckled at the quarian and gave Cindy my attention.

"Are you ready for this?" I asked her, taking my backpack off the floor. We traveled light, so we could leave at any time. My backpack only contained the essentials. One change of clothes, toothbrushes, toothpaste, my diary, a pistol, and a compass.

"Since we left Aite." Cindy said moving to her room to grab her things. She wasn't much for clothing, but instead collected all the articles and newsletters that contained information about the Mindoir attack and Jane. She had only one actual piece of paper. It was a piece a minor news outlet on Mindoir published the day the new recruits for the alliance set off. Cindy had let me read it during one of our days off.

It said: " _This day is a proud moment for parents as their children set off to defend humanity's stake and livelihood in the large and ever-expanding galaxy. Their first destination is Akuze to investigate a human colony, no other information was given. The cadets (from left to right) are Mowie Tome, Roger Lerot, Tim Dunwall, Sam Potenilli, Jessica Larusso, Jane Shepard, Ethan Fronmel, Katherine Petrova, and Jon Snorlen._ "

That was just a snort snippet of the entire article; It went on a tangent about how great the Systems Alliance was and that the sacrifice the young men and women were making was for a noble cause.

It also talked about the weather.

A certain thing in the article almost broke me. Akuze. There was only interaction with Akuze that Jane could have. It meant that Jane had become a sole survivor. I tried to find any articles about the event but it was covered up any leads that I followed were gone. I enlisted Seen to help me, and with his technical skills he found exactly what I wasn't hoping for. We showed Cindy, "My sister is strong, she would have gotten through it." she had reasoned.

We dropped it after that.

Cindy and I were ready. She was currently carrying a duffle bag. It had all the previous items mentioned, and probably….girl essentials.

If you know what I mean. You know what I mean right?...Period stuff.

"Seen!" She yelled. "We're leaving you!" She yelled again, opening the door and exiting our apartment.

"W-What! Kee-lah! I cannot go any faster! I cannot risk the wrinkles!...Don't leave!" He rushed through his room, and I smirked as I watched him stuff his final suit into his bag. "I swear, if I have to even iron these once…" He remarked as he walked past me and followed Cindy.

I looked back into the apartment. We had a few good moments here. I won't be sad leaving it though. Now, now the real adventure begins. I closed the door.

Bye Mindoir, Hello Citadel….

* * *

 _It didn't take long before we got to the citadel. We had hopped on the first shuttle to the citadel and never looked back. There wasn't much keeping us there anyhow._

Though problems, as they always seem to do, met us at the gate. We didn't get far before we found out Shepard had already left. Damn, she worked quick! She had met with the council and had begun the mission without us. When Cindy found out she was furious and even caused a slight disturbance, causing C-Sec to be called and subsequently landing us in separate holding cells.

"This feels all too familiar." I said as my quarian friend and I were playing a fierce game of omni-tool generated go-fish.

"Any Fives?" he asked.

"Go Fish." I said.

"We aren't in the same boat. They put it simply, we are being _interrogated_ to ensure we aren't terrorists." Seen reminded me begrudgingly taking another card. He currently held ten cards in his hand while I had three.

"Rancor-Ryncol." Cindy remarked from her separate but equally confining cell.

So we were in jail. In C-Sec to be exact.

Officially we were being held until they could somehow confirm we were saying who we were. (Cindy stating that she was the long-lost sister of the first human spectre didn't help as much as we thought it would) "It was impossible to avoid this. Both of you technically don't have real identities, anymore at least." Seen said as he once again took another card adding his total to eleven.

"What's your excuse?" I asked him adding at the end "Jacks?" He gave me a scornful look as he slowly slid the jack to my side.

One card left.

"I'm Quarian. To them that's good enough reason as any. You may be some of the more _progressive_ aliens I have met but not everyone is as liberal as you two are," he said as he cautiously thought out his next move. "Any threes?" he asked. I shook my head no and he quickly grabbed another card, already unfazed by the action.

"Seen, you're getting killed." Cindy said from her cell, she had a good view of the game but since cells are gender-specific she was by herself.

"Why don't you try? Oh wait, you can't." Seen said.

I looked at him and his attention spun to me. "Do you have a seven?" I asked him as I twiddled the last card in my hand.

He shot out one quick laugh. "Ha! Go Fish!" he said with a hint of glory and relief. I did as he said and as I grabbed the card I smiled.

I showed him my card, the seven of hearts, and his face, I assume, fell. "I win." It took him a second to process the fact that I beat him in something.

"H-How…?" He asked himself as he slumped over, the omni-tool game disappeared, and left a quarian who had suffered crushing defeat.

Before I could go on my own tangent of how there may be no one in the universe that would be able to defeat me in a fair game of go-fish. The door outside of the cell opened, and in walked a, dare I say it, legendary face.

"Hm. Criminals seem to be getting younger and younger these days," a flanging turian remarked. I didn't even have to look at him to recognize the iconic voice that he carried.

I looked at Seen and mouthed, _it's him._ He gave me a confused look, I realized he wouldn't share in my excitement. It didn't make any sense, why was Garrus here? He should be with Shepard unless...She left him here? Why would she do that? Did she think that she didn't need his help? Or that he wasn't going to be any help? This was odd. I know it's possible to leave Garrus, the first time I played I almost did. Would've been a huge mistake. He's one of my favorites. Right under Tali and Shepard herself.

Cindy didn't give him any time to breathe "Can we go now? We're already too far behind." She said tapping her wrist where her omni-tool would have been if it hadn't been confiscated.

"Ah, yes. Shepard, is it?" Garrus said bringing up a holo-screen on his omni-tool. He was sifting through our records, or lack thereof. "Hmph. A recently instated identity... no other public records... a hard to believe story of escaping a batarian slaver ship." Garrus said "Impressive, if true."

"It's true." Cindy affirmed.

Ignoring her Garrus continued "And then there is the matter of your... partners. A very skilled quarian, who had already hacked into several of the citadel's databases before he even set foot on the ship… and then there is you." He pointed at me. I felt honored.

"The only thing on you, I kid not, is your name." Garrus remarked waiting for me to interject on why that was the reason.

"It's Austin, by the way." I said, there was no way of explaining what had happened to me.

"Right…" He closed the omni-tool and rested his right arm on the cell door. "So... . Please explain to me, with your incredulous story, why anyone should believe you." Garrus asked staring deep into Cindy's green eyes.

Cindy spoke strongly, "I've been enslaved for ten years. During those ten years, I was fairly certain that everyone I had ever loved was dead. There was only one thing that kept me going for as long as I did. My sister, and the fact that she wasn't home when we were attacked… look, I don't care if you believe me or not. I'm going to find her either way. All I need from you, is to open the cell so I can get started." Cindy had said not breaking the intense eye contact for a second.

Garrus kept the stare-down for a few seconds longer before opening his omni-tool and releasing the lock mechanisms for the doors. They slid open and we stepped through.

"I... I think I believe you. No one with a look so determined would be lying." Garrus said, "Although, I may just be a bad judge of character." He smiled, opening up the suitcase that he had brought in with him and placing it on a nearby table. It contained all of our omni-tools and accessories that we had brought with us.

"You had planned to release us this whole time?" Cindy asked.

"We can't hold you here forever, as much as we'd want to, all I needed was proof you were who you said you were." Garrus said handing us our omni-tools.

"Why?" Cindy asked, her omni-tool on almost immediately. It was second nature to have the thing on, but when I tried placing mine on it was a touch too tight.

I looked at Seen, his was too big. I most likely had his, we switched promptly.

"Because." Garrus said placing his C-Sec badge in the suitcase and shutting it. "I'm coming with you." Cindy raised an eyebrow and, to me at least, it made some sense.

Cindy repeated her question, "Why?"

Garrus looked at us reluctantly before he explained. "I asked your sister if I could come with her. She turned me down, I decided this time that if you are who you say you are then I wouldn't give you the same choice."

"Well, then I guess there isn't really a discussion here." I said pushing myself into the conversation, not everyday you talk to a Garrus. Especially a real one.

Cindy pursed her lips, thinking about his proclamation. Even with his confident demand her actions wavered him. It took her a few seconds but she finally decided. "Okay." She nodded in confirmation "Let's go."

Garrus smiled and slid his suitcase off the table. "What's your next plan of action?" He asked Cindy he pressed a few buttons of his omni-tool, and the door to the room opened. We all stepped out into the C-Sec academy. A flurry of aliens and humans flooded the station. We only saw a limited amount of it before they placed us under quarantine.

It was beautiful. As beautiful as the game was when it came out, no pc could ever simulate the intense reality of the Citadel. I remember when it first came into view. I almost fainted from excitement. Even so the whole while I was becoming more and more acquainted with the scenery. Soon the sight of a Salarian won't make me cream my pants. I hope. It would be quite awkward.

"We need to know where my sister went." Cindy said tapping into her omni-tool. She brought up the article that brought us here and showed it to Garrus. "Know anyone that was present at those meetings? They might give us an idea where she went." Cindy sent him the article and Garrus quickly took a look at it.

"Yeah...I know exactly the person." Garrus said.

There were only five people who knew where Shepard could be without actually being with her. Three were untouchable alien councilors, another was an awesome bad-ass with the voice of Kevin David.

The fifth person? Oh well, he's a prick.

* * *

 _Finally done! Yeah it's been a while. Though I can finally say that Shepard is closer than ever before and I think it's a guaranteed that the amount of time between any chapter is a while, but I promise the next one will be done as soon as possible. It's going to be action packed and awesome! You'll be seeing a lot of characters in it!_

 _Now it should be obvious that what I'm trying to accomplish with this series is an entirely different take on what we got from the source material and anything else on the site. I'm taking every route that no one has yet and that's the plan I'm going to continue to follow.  
Also Garrus. Did you know you could go the entire Mass Effect 1 game without recruiting him? Crazy! Who would do that to themselves? Immediately after learning that it was possible I wrote it into the story! Whether you like it or not I'm leaving you with the question...why did Shepard leave him?  
I also finished the new Mass Effect. Heh. I'm not going to say much about it, but I may write a fanfic about wasted opportunities. _

_Anyway that is all. Thanks for reading!_

 _Remember to follow and review and subsequently favorite, while also doing the other thing that accompanies it as well!_


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